We are enjoying a quiet Christmas this year. We have spent the last few days taking presents to good friends and visiting and that has been wonderful. We only have one remaining, but our friend is out of town now, so we’ll catch up with her when she returns.
I have a teeny tiny CUTE turkey breast I’ll cook for us on Christmas Day. We’ll also have deviled eggs, dressing, and cranberry sauce.
I’m grateful that we are both healthy enough to enjoy this holiday together.
Merry Christmas!
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays
istockphoto
And we have water pressure!
After two days of non-stop work, we enjoyed nice hot showers with reasonable pressure last night! We had two big blowouts twice when we were doing a last ‘tightening up’ to stop a couple of drips, so we declared victory the third time and left the drips going. We would like to increase the pressure a bit more, but will wait to do it until we have the leaks stopped. I have called our plumber, who has agreed to come out after Christmas ( We told him this was not an emergency.) We are hoping it will be a quick job for him and a final fix for us. Meanwhile, we’ll monitor things in the well house for any big problems. Ahhhhhh!
Today will be a happy day for us. We’ll go grocery shopping and stop off at a friend’s house to check on them and take a present or two. Later this afternoon, I’ll do it again with another friend. :0)
Otherwise, we will do a lot of resting.
I hope your day is great, too.
Filed under Friendship, holidays, Thoughts on a ________
Dog Lovers Club
We’re having a nice, though gray, fall day here in Arkansas. I found a new sweatshirt/hoodie combination in a pale pink and am wearing it for the first time today. I got it from the exclusive emporium of Walmart, and am pleased to report that I didn’t have to get it in a “wide-load” size! It’s light weight and cozy feeling. This is really welcome since I’ve been sitting under my throw in the living room while watching TV lately, even though our heat works fine. It may be a psychological thing. Anyhow, I’m thinking of buying ANOTHER one!
I told you that I am experimenting on making light weight wooden earrings for people who do NOT have pierced ears. I found some glue and clip-on findings, both without nickel to avoid problems with allergies.
This is the only finished pair so far. The wood is just large enough for the clip-on. I’m also going to try a larger disk and then drill a hole in the bottom of it and append a smaller disk from it, making a dangle. I’ll show you a pic of that when I have one finished. I’m thinking of starting another Etsy shop just for earrings – pierced and clip-on. I’m also checking out opening a shop on Amazon.
Yesterday one of my long time good friends called to tell me one of her dogs had died. Another good friend lost a cat recently. Having been there, and knowing that losing a treasured pet member of the family is one of the worst hurts there is, my heart goes out to to both of them. I also know there is nothing I can do but show I care. I wish I could do more.
I’m not sure what else the day holds, other than the what-I’m-hoping-will-be-the-usual exercise with my elliptical trainer and yoga stretches and working in my art room.
I hope your Saturday is fun.
Filed under Family, Friendship, playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________
LoveThisPic
My two friends came over last night to help us celebrate Thanksgiving.
Due to my not paying enough attention, I noticed a label on the cute little turkey breast I was about to cook saying, “Cajun Style.” My husband and I are real wusses when it comes to hot and spicy, so this seemed like a huge problem. My husband went out to get another regular turkey breast while I rubbed off the ‘Cajun’ stuff as much as possible We defrosted the regular one when he returned and cooked both at the same time. I labeled each one carefully so that we could all try the Cajun as well as the regular. We all pronounced the Cajun good! There was a small ‘bite’ after you swallowed, but it was a NICE bite, if that makes sense. My husband and I are looking forward to lots of turkey sandwiches!
We enjoyed our feast. It was great catching up. We had a lot of good conversation, hugs, and laughter. It had been a long time since I saw Nora, one of my good friends. We agreed to do better in the future. Life is too short and we love each other. My other friend is Carla, with whom I share the booth in the local shop in town. She reminded me that Christmas Honors is coming up, and so we’ll go together on Dec. 4th.
“Christmas Honors” is a tradition honoring our veterans. People come together to volunteer to attach red bows to wreaths to put on each veteran’s grave in the Veterans Cemetery in Fort Smith.
This will be my third year to do this. There are around 18,000 wreaths on which we will attach red bows. So many people in our area have served our country, and it’s good to be able to do something to honor them. There is a huge group of people who gather to do this. Lots of laughter and camaraderie as we work.
As I was typing this, I heard a noise coming from the dining area I couldn’t identify. I discovered Amber, our 94-pound yellow lab, licking the aluminum pie plate from last night. I looked at my husband. He had the grace to look a bit guilty. There had been two pieces of pie left last night, and both were now in my husband’s tummy….
I’m looking forward to spending time in my art room today. I’m still enjoying playing with the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. I bought some more colors on the net recently and look forward to expanding my play. :0)
I hope that you are enjoying your Friday.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Thoughts on a ________, Volunteering
Element Natural Healing Arts
I ran the bulldozer around through the first floor yesterday, so things are looking about as good as they get around here. :0) I’ll start cooking in a bit, but one of my friends is bringing green bean casserole, and the other is bringing apple pie, so a lot of the work is done. I’m cooking a small turkey breast, stuffing, and making deviled eggs. Wine, coffee, great conversation, hugs, lots of laughter. And for THIS, I am truly thankful.
I visited with our son via our chat program this morning. (He is in Thailand.) We exchanged virtual hugs. He is doing well and is happy. That’s all I really need to know. The details are ‘gravy.’
The only thing NOT fine is our weather. It started raining last night. We’re supposed to have ‘cold, steady rain’ all day today – and through SATURDAY. It’s a good thing I live on top of a ridge line…
“May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump. May your potatoes and gravy have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious, and your pies take the prize, and may Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs.”
_________
I am thankful for YOU, who take the time to read my blog. I look forward to talking with you each day and sharing the things I find with you.
Have a happy day!
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays
iStock
In about 20 minutes, we are going to Lunch Bunch! This week we’re doing it today, rather than Friday. The Pizza Barn will be open Friday, but not until 3pm, and no salad/pizza/banana pudding bar. 3:00 p.m. is almost dinner time for one of my friends, so we’ll enjoy seeing everyone today.
When we get home, the push will start to get ready for Thanksgiving. It all starts with running the bulldozer…
I’ve told you before that housekeeping is really low on my list of priority activities. When we’re having people over for dinner, I try to get serious about making this place clean enough for others to be comfortable. Dog hair is rampant right now, so I’ve been vacuuming every other day. This is NOT enough for when others come to visit. I’ll scrub bathrooms, vacuum, and do general cleanup of the first floor so that I can concentrate on last minute cleaning and cooking tomorrow.
I hope that you are not having to start with a bulldozer at your home today, and that you have a happy celebration tomorrow.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
amazon.com
We went bowling last night with our good friends, the Taylors, last night.
It doesn’t matter how well (or how badly) we bowl. We do it for the fun of it, the good exercise, the chance to catch up with our good friends, AND a trip to Braum’s afterwards for a scoop of ice cream.
BONUS # 1 – Last night was especially fun. There was a good-looking young man with 4 kids of varying ages bowling next to us. The children looked to be Asian and were great-looking children. The two boys looked to be in their teens. The girls were younger. As we bowled, I couldn’t help but melt into a puddle at the youngest girl. She had a gorgeous smile that appeared often. I clapped when she got a spare and she lit up like a Christmas tree. She would smile at me when I managed to throw a good ball, too. The man had taught the kids bowling etiquette, so it was a pleasure to be next to them.
After awhile, the man came over to us and said that he wanted us to know that his kids were impressed with our bowling. This was a shock because we really weren’t doing that well, although we had gotten a few strikes, and – more notably – picked up a few difficult spares. He said the kids were always on their phones. He had taken them to the Grand Canyon, and couldn’t get them to even look out the window at the wonderful sight because they were glued to their devices. But they were impressed with us!
We told him that his kids – two of the four – and his niece and nephew – were beautiful children and we were impressed at how well behaved they were. They were here for Thanksgiving, and he had taken them bowling to get them out of the house. :0) A total pleasure to bowl next to them and talk with them.
BONUS # 2 – After a joyful trip to Braum’s for ice cream, we took our friends back to their home. They said they had something for us. They went inside and came back out with TWO gorgeous elephant ear plants for us to take home!
Elephant Ear 1
Elephant Ear 2
Laufrain told us to put them in the garage to winter over, but we elected to try to keep them alive in our dining area and then – if successful – we’ll put them on our front porch in the spring so they’ll be protected from too much wind.
Filed under Delightful Surprises, Family, Friendship
Jeff Jett
I love this picture. I want to pet this dog and hug him.
I have finished up some new things using the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze and wanted to show them to you.
The Greenwood Arkansas Holiday Open House is tomorrow afternoon from 1 – 5. I’m volunteering to help in Rags & Roses, 100 North Main, the shop where I am sharing a booth with my good friend, Carla, doing whatever I can to make it go as smoothly as possible. I’m looking forward to meeting people. There will be food, Santa photos, a musician playing the guitar/fiddle/mandolin, door prizes, and lots of wonderful stuff to consider buying for the holidays. FUN!
I am now looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have asked a dear friend to eat with us. My husband will be delighted to hear that she is bringing apple pie! All thoughts of diet are thrown to the winds. We will gleefully chow down, filling our bellies with delicious stuff and enjoying catching up with my good friend I haven’t seen in far too long. :0)
I hope that you are doing something fun today, relaxing, and looking forward to the week ahead.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Thoughts on a ________
Penny Yaffe Krakow – pic by Mary Madeline Botz
I finished the mulching yesterday and got things cleaned up. My poor body is really protesting, so I’ll take it easy for a couple of days before doing anything more out there. It’s amazing to me that I can get a bit tired by the end of several sessions, but don’t actual ‘feel’ it until that evening or the next morning. I plan to do my elliptical trainer and a session of yoga today, to help stretch things out.
I sang to my husband this morning – hence the cute picture of the doggie above. (I wasn’t nearly as cute, and my husband looked pained that I was singing. My husband, who is still being a curmudgeon about becoming a year older, grinned from ear to ear when he saw what I was doing this morning. The pineapple upside-down cake is in the oven as I type. Hopefully, I can make him smile several times today.
I’m waiting to hear from our friends on whether we are going bowling tonight and then for ice cream or not.
Since I was so ‘good’ working in the yard the past two days, I’m going to reward myself with time in my art room this afternoon.
Birthday – Bowling – Art Room – Pineapple Upside-Down Cake – Not bad for a Monday!
The name of our booth is “Blasing Bright” – a combination of part of the last names of my friend Carla and her former partner. It’s a small booth, but in a good location in the shop of booths called, “Rags & Roses.” 100 N Main St, Greenwood, AR 72936, (479) 597-3107. The owner is Joanna Brandt, a truly lovely, intelligent, energetic lady. The hours of Rags & Roses are Tuesday – Friday, 11:00 -6:00, and Saturday, 10:00 until 4:00.
Carla and I arranged, rearranged, then decorated a bit for Christmas, then rearranged again before we found what we thought looked the best. Carla is one of my best friends, a joy to work with. We caught up with what’s been going on, shared lots of laughs and hugs.
This is my dear friend Carla Woolbright.
And this is me.
I’m taking another group of things today and then will keep all appendages crossed that we both get some nice sales. I’m really excited to have this opportunity to try to sell my work locally, all year ’round.
EXCITING AND FUN!
“October Flights” – Stesha and Lilya – Andy Seliverstoff
Summer is finally over here in Arkansas. I was beginning to wonder for a while if it would be perpetual! It’s crisp and brisk, with a definite nip in the air this morning – at 37 degrees F. The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful fall day.
Today will be a happy day for me.
We will leave for Lunch Bunch soon – an every Friday brunch/lunch with good friends we’ve been enjoying for over 17 years now. The core bunch, Linda, Kay and I, has been expended to include my husband, and Kay’s recently, with others joining us from time to time, such as sons, daughters, grandchildren, and other good friends. It’s a time to catch up, share what has happened – or is going to happen, our hopes, dreams, failures, happy and sad things – knowing we support each other. A very special group that means the world to me.
When we return from Lunch Bunch, I’ll pack the truck again with things I’ll display in my good friend, Carla’s, booth in a local shop. We went together yesterday to look at things, bouncing ideas off each other, grabbing some supplies from a couple of places and finally sharing some tea and good conversation. I will pick her up this afternoon and we’ll go add my stuff to what is now OUR shop! She has already paid the rental fee for November, so I’ll pay for December. I’ll share pics of the shop and some other details with you later.
When I come home again from adding to our shop, I’ll do my elliptical trainer and yoga for the day, chores around the house, etc., and catch up with my husband and our pets, enjoying a quiet evening together.
Happy day! I hope that YOU enjoy one, too!
Filed under exercise, Family, Friendship, opportunities, Seasons, Thoughts on a ________
Beautiful World
I have to admit I’m still very disappointed to have learned that the wonderful order – and payment – for 40 plaques turned out to be a fraud. I’m grateful that our only loss was the joy of such a wonderful order and the chance to fulfill it. We were very lucky. I’m disappointed to have met someone who tried to hurt us. I always believe that people are good – until they show me they aren’t.
I’m very grateful to my husband, who – although believing the order was a scam from the first – offered to help me make plaques when I returned from the bank – before I told him that it was confirmed to be a scam. He’s definitely a keeper.
Since wonderful things can happen any time, my good friend Carla called yesterday to check on my husband and me – AND to make me an offer! She is renting a booth in one of our local shops and wanted to know if I wanted to bring some of my work to sell! She also offered me the chance to go in 50/50 with her! I’m thrilled. My husband and I are planning to visit the shop today and then I’ll call Carla back. They have a website, so I checked it out and found some really nice pictures and stellar reviews from people. I’m thinking that I will at least go 50/50 with her until the holidays are over, giving me a good chance to see if my work will sell or not. Isn’t life – and the friendship of dear people – amazing?!?
I finished listing my flat wooden Christmas ornaments on ArtFire. I’ll do another post to show you some of the ornaments. :0)
It’s raining again today, but it doesn’t seem like we received the downpours the weather people were forecasting.
Since my ego was smashed yesterday with the confirmation of the scam, I didn’t exercise at ALL, actually getting under my throw in my recliner and taking a nap. We went to get fried rice for dinner – a definite no-no for both of us, but SO delicious – AND I ate some ice cream before bed. Needless to say, my back and the scales were both letting me have it loudly this morning, so I will get back on the horse and be good again now that the pity party is finished. :0)
I hope that YOUR day today is full of good things, too.
Filed under Family, Friendship, Thoughts on a ________
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
We are having a lovely fall day today! Sunshine-y, 61 degrees, no rain. Can’t ask for more. :0)
I’ve told you about Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith AR before. Aldopho, their man, is outside now spraying around the house where he couldn’t because of rain when he was here recently. In addition to that, I received a bill from them I didn’t expect. I pay for the year, and had already sent in my payment for NEXT year, so this was unexpected. I called and talked to Jerry. He looked us up and told me that their new computer system had issued the invoice when it SHOULD have issued a CREDIT. Can’t get a better answer than that!
I also had made a note to call City Hall today regarding the Angel Tree they put up every year for Christmas. I just wanted to get a feel for when it would be up so that we could plan to go in, get an angel from the tree, and shop for goodies for a sweet child in our community. The lady I talked to was putting the tree up as she was talking to me! We’ll stop by tomorrow and choose a child. We alternate between a boy and and a girl each year. This time, I think we’ll choose a girl.
My scales continued to smirk this morning, showing another .2 lbs of lard gone. Infinitesimal – but “I” noticed. :0) I’m hoping to break into another 5-pound territory by the end of the week. 
We leave for the dentist soon for the 2nd step in my husband’s implant. I’m a bit concerned about the fact that he’s on blood thinners, but everyone at our dentist’s office Wes Moore, DDS, in Fort Smith, is competent, so he is in good hands. We’ll run errands and eat out on the way home.
I’m having great fun making flat wooden Christmas ornaments using the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. Here is one of them –
I’m going to personalize these with a name and the year. I’ve done 8 different ornaments so far, and will start the second group of 8 this afternoon, unless I run out of time.
We’re going bowling this evening with good, long-time friends. I always look forward to catching up with them. You would think that we would be getting reasonably good at the game by now, but NOOOOO! Each of us has a good night from time to time, but we’re pretty pathetic otherwise. We either celebrate or commiserate afterwards by getting ice cream at Braums. :0) With my elliptical trainer, yoga, and bowling, this old lady will have a GOOD amount of exercise today.
I hope YOUR Monday is pleasant – if not ENJOYABLE.
Thoughts from a Twisted Angel via Marianna Bellantoni
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Friendship
Animal’s Look
It’s cool (54 degrees F.) and raining today. I’m happy for the rain, but it’s a bit cool to dance in it.
We just got back from Lunch Bunch. Today we had almost more people than chairs for the group. It was wonderful. I’ve told you that the main group is Linda, Kay and me. We’ve met for Lunch Bunch every Friday for over 17 years now. Others have come and go. Some show up at various times, and the core remains the same. My husband was accepted as an honorary member several years ago. Now Kay’s husband is coming! Today our good friend Alice came, with one of her clients/friends. (Alice does professional machine quilting for scads of people). Conversation was lively and the service and food were good, as always, at the Pizza Barn, Greenwood AR.
Yesterday I finished the fourth plaque painted with Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze.
Today I’ll start the last in the series.
I found a nice keto chili recipe (Suzanne Ryan – Simply Keto) that I’ll try tomorrow. :0)
I hope you’re staying warm, dry, and cozy today.
Filed under DIET!, Friendship, Mother Nature, playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________
Masterfile
We have been sharing lunch on Fridays for over 17 years now. Sometimes, it’s just the three of us. (My husband is an honorary 4th member.) Other times, we are happy to have others join us.
Today it was Kay’s husband, my husband, and our son, plus a good friend of the group, Alice. Alice is a woman who makes everyone feel special. She remembers everyone’s name, everything you say, and you take right up with her like it hasn’t been a long time since you saw her last. Priceless.
Today’s Lunch Bunch was bittersweet. Our son is going home to Thailand tomorrow, so much of the talk was about his travel plans (the fact he’ll be traveling for 30 hours from our door to his), etc. I’m trying to stay busy today so I don’t tear up over and over about him leaving. We won the lottery on sons.
This morning has been a beautiful celebration of family and friendship.
Filed under Family, Friendship
I won the lottery on Sisters-in-law – sorry, I got her first! We email every day, sharing what’s happening, what we’re hoping for, supporting each other whenever necessary, etc. She is truly a special lady, and we are FRIENDS as well as in-laws.
She let me know a package was coming for me. It arrived yesterday. It’s not my birthday. It’s not Christmas, or any other day that would even suggest a gift. It’s the most special type of gift – one chosen just because they thought of you when they saw it and thought you might enjoy it.
BOY – did she NAIL it!
This is called Unicorn Spit! I had never heard of it. It’s a paint/glaze that you dilute with water and paint and layer it on glass, wood, and more to get all kinds of glorious effects with dazzling super bright colors. You can mix them, too, and spray your work while still wet to add another color and see what happens on the piece. I’ve bookmarked a YouTube demonstration (isn’t YouTube the best thing?) so I can watch people who know what they’re doing and discover many of the possibilities.
A gift given for no reason other than they hope you enjoy it. THANKS AGAIN, ML. I can’t wait to make time to go play!!!!!!
Filed under Delightful Surprises, Family, Friendship, playing in my art room
Run Pics and Stuff via Marianna Bellantoni
I’m lucky to be able to consider our son one of my very best friends.
Filed under Family, Friendship
Amber
I’m late in blog posting today. Amber went out to the veggie garden with me and helped clean up the remaining planter boxes. I encountered fire ants twice, but had gone in ARMED with EIGHT bug killer in a 2-gallon sprayer and hosed them down. I didn’t get stung, thank goodness! I’ll take pics later of the cleaned up garden, but I was simply too hot when I finished to go back with the camera. (The heat index is 106 or more right now). Once I’m SURE we’ve killed all the ants in the boxes, I’ll try Robin’s suggestion of putting Vaseline around each support leg.
I was actually able to gather quite a few small tomatoes yesterday from the converted brick planters on the other side of the house. I didn’t have a basket with me, so simply used the bottom of my shirt as a carrier. :0) We’re about to the end of the season now. The plants look pretty sad, but we’re still getting small ripe tomatoes, so we’re happy.
The main water line from the well house to the irrigation system had a blowout last night. Our son was able to cobble it back together, but it’s obvious we need a longer hose length of super sturdy stuff to handle the pressure. We got two lengths of hose cut at the hardware store today in two different diameters, thinking one of them will fit. I’m not sure if we’ll get to the replacement today.
My husband started thinking about our truck battery this morning. He keeps a log of our important purchases on his computer so that we can look things up quickly. We discovered that we bought the battery for the truck in 2014! Since our battieries usually die suddenly with change of season, we bought a replacement battery while we were in town today. We’ll change it out later today and take the old one back to the store tomorrow for credit.
Our long time good friends will go bowling with us tonight! Our son is still home with us (a thing for which we are thankful every day) and so we’ll have a lot of fun this evening bowling terribly and then commiserating with ice cream at Braum’s afterwards.
When I finish cooling off and glugging water, we’ll have lunch and then I’ll do my first session of yoga for the week.
I hope your Monday is off to a good start.
My heart goes out to my long time friend Kay who lost her son yesterday to a heart attack. Kay is SUCH a special lady and has had a lot of awful challenges in the past few months. We will do everything we can to help her through this.
Our ‘Lewises-against-the-elements’ challenge continues. Yesterday it was the fire ants swarming when I was trying to clean out the raised bed square foot garden. Today it was the wasps, who have made a home in the attachment to the pole that holds up the mailbox. We drilled several holes in it so that we can attach our mailbox decorations to the mailbox with two bolts and nuts. It never occurred to us that wasps would decide that this was a great place to live. We sprayed the holes down again, taking several sessions to get the other mailbox decoration DOWNand the scarecrow UP. We didn’t get stung, but it certainly adds challenge to the job of changing out decorations!
As we were processing the chicken, frozen fish, and hamburger meat we bought this morning, my husband was taking the packages out to the freezer in the garage for me. He remarked when he came in from the first pass, “Hey! You really DID clean out the freezer!” He added that he didn’t think he would be able to tell much difference, and that he was amazed. He said, “You did a GREAT job!” (I’m marking this day down on my calendar that 1) he noticed, and 2) he gave me a nice compliment!
Today when I go out again to continue trying to clear out the garden. I will hose everything down first with the EIGHT bug killer before I try to do anything else. I would really like to finish this. If I’m successful, my friend Robin wrote, suggesting that I spread Vaseline around the ‘legs’ of the support pieces that hold up the boxes. She says that her experience shows that the ants don’t want to cross the Vaseline or get stuck in it. SOUNDS GREAT TO ME! Thanks, Robin.
I am happy to report that my yoga practice went well yesterday afternoon. My back had protested LOUDLY yesterday morning, telling me that maybe I had practiced a bit too exuberantly for my old body. The use of Muscle Gel with Arnica, Tylenol, and CAREFUL stretches yesterday fixed me up. I was sore again this morning, but I think it’s just a leftover. My husband spread the gel on for me, but I didn’t need the Tylenol and will practice this afternoon. 7 STARS for the week! WOO HOOO!
I hope your Sunday is a good one.
Filed under exercise, Family, Friendship, Lewis Mailbox Decorations, Thoughts on a ________
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
We are about to go to Lunch Bunch – our every Friday brunch/lunch with long-time good friends to enjoy sharing what has happened since LAST Friday, what is coming up, good news, bad news, lots of hugs and laughter. We have done this for some 17 years now and our friendship is priceless. Our son will go with us today, so it will be even more special.
I’m thankful for what should be a quiet day – a treasured thing now.
_____________________
A couple of hours have passed. Our Internet keeps going down, so I gave up and we went to Lunch Bunch. We had a great time. We’ve now replenished groceries and I’m again trying to get a post off before the net goes down again. Challenging, to say the least.
I hope YOUR Friday is a good one, and that you have much for which to be thankful, too.
Filed under Family, Friendship, Thoughts on a ________
We have a driveway that is 650+ feet down to the road. It is graveled and STEEP. Happily, we don’t have any trouble getting down our driveway and up again, but some people do. It’s particularly bad when we have had the combination of lots and lots of rain and delivery trucks trying to get up and down.
We’ve been in bad shape now for several months now.
We used to have a wonderful man, Tommy Sandifer, who came and used his tractor to smooth things out for us. He became very ill and was unable to help us anymore, but his son, Eric, took over for him and helps us from time to time. Eric is extremely busy though, and bringing a tractor out to help us is time-consuming and costly for him.
We called several weeks ago, asking Eric for help again. A combination of his being too busy and our rain storms have caused lots of delays.
We were delighted to hear our driveway alarm going nuts, showing a guy on a tractor there to heal our driveway – but the BEST part was that it was our original man, Tommy, the father! It’s been over 2 years since he felt well enough to help us. My husband and I both shook his hand and told him how happy we were to see him. He said he doesn’t get out much now, but he felt well enough to come and help us this morning. He proudly showed us the new blade he got to go on the back of the tractor.
My husband and I just went down the driveway to get our mail and test the driveway fix. It is beautiful!
I’m happy our driveway is much easier to negotiate now, but I’m happier that Tommy seems to be doing well. :0)
Filed under Challenges, Friendship, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Tail and Fur
“It’s raining, it’s pouring;
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he
Bumped his head
And he couldn’t get up in the morning.” ~ Nursery Rhyme
We’ve already reached and broken the record here in Arkansas for rain in August, and it’s raining again. We may get another 2 inches today to add to the over 11 for the month.
My husband has been gritching all summer because USUALLY we get to a point where it’s so hot with no rain that our lawn becomes ‘brown and crunchy’ (his favorite) and doesn’t need mowing. No luck for him this year. Happily, we have a nice used riding mower to make the job as easy as it gets.
I did a good job on weed whacking yesterday, going all the way around our garden, the propane tank for our shop, and behind the shop, plus the front yard, plus the area between the front yard and the driveway pad. I was planning to work on the back – and around the greenhouse today – but it looks like an inside day for us.
We’re getting ready to enjoy eating with our long-time Lunch Bunch friends. I think we decided recently we had been meeting every Friday for at least 17 years. I’m thankful to have such good, long-time friends. We’ve shared laughter and tears through the years, celebrating, or helping each other through hard times. Today our son plans to come with us!
After errands, we’ll settle in, enjoying a dry home, family, and pets.
I hope that you are enjoying your Friday.
Filed under Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, Friendship, Mother Nature
Jeff Jett – Linkedin
Good morning!
I hope today finds you healthy and happy, enjoying a great Sunday.
Our main feeling here is thankful –
We’re hoping that Mother Nature will cooperate with us tonight, allowing us to cook celebration steaks outside on the grill.
I hope your Sunday is filled with wonderful things, too.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Cherishing the Quiet Day, Family, Friendship
A Wondering Spirit via Marianna Bellantoni
We just came through a health scare. Relatives and friends embraced us, offering care, help, love, and support. How priceless that is! At times like this, you realize just how very lucky you are, and that you are not alone. Wonderful people helped us through this, and out to the other side. How on earth do you ‘thank’ them? Other than the obvious, I will try to show each of them how important they are to us and concentrate on being there for THEM whenever they need us.
Filed under Attitude, Family, Friendship
“Innocent Sounds” – Alina Ciuciu
I love Alina’s painting for several reasons –
The subject, colors, and texture speak to me.
My reaction to the painting was to melt into a puddle. It is so SWEET.
It also speaks of the many sides of friendship. On any given subject, in any given situation, some will share a similar thing that happened to them; some feel the need to give advice; some will comfort; some will listen; some will simply be there with you for support. I value each and every one.
Filed under Challenges, Friendship, paintings I love
Because of life getting in the way lately, I’ve gotten behind on my responsibilities around the house. Yesterday I finally vacuumed our first floor – first the tiled areas and then the carpeted ones. I have a very nice vacuum. The only thing it could do better would be for it to run itself. (We actually HAD one of the round turn-it-on-and-it-runs-around type thingies at one time. It would regularly get stuck under something or wedge itself into a corner, or choke itself to death on the dog and cat hair, so we gave it up.)
Another thing I had neglected was the aquarium. I finally cleaned that out yesterday, putting in different decorations, clean water, new filters, etc. The fish didn’t say anything, but breathed sighs of relief when I put them back in their now clean home.
Here you can see all four of the fish. We have one that has gotten huge – they were all about the same size when I bought them – about an inch long. The largest one is now at least three inches long in the body, and then has a long tail. All seem to be doing fine.
Somehow, the girl-in-the-bathtub’s feet broke off quite a while back. I glued them back on and the fish don’t seem to mind it that she isn’t perfect.
I’m not sure if the weather will cooperate and I can finish getting the garden back in control or if I’ll have to tackle more projects in the house today.
The best thing is that we have Lunch Bunch – our every Friday meal with long time good friends in about an hour. Our son will go with us today, and it’s been years since our friends have seen him. I look forward to the reunion.
Have a happy day!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family, Friendship, Housekeeping - Maintenance
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