Category Archives: holidays

The Friday after -2023

Conky Animals-r/midjourney-Reddit

Here I am, up almost 2 lbs since yesterday. UGH. The worst part is that it will take me a week or so to get the regained weight off again. (Sigh. Whine) :0(

That said, we had a really nice dinner and my husband was quite complimentary. He was serious about getting ‘his share’ of the deviled eggs before we were even technically ready to get the plates out. One would think he NEVER gets them. It’s reminiscent of our dog seriously telling everyone who will listen that there has been a HUGE mistake – that she hasn’t been fed in a month!

I was pleased that, when I got up and started to clear, he actually came and helped me put things away and clean up the kitchen – another thing for which I am truly thankful. :0)

I FINALLY got out and weed whacked around the house and under the deck yesterday – something I’ve been flapping my lips about for several days now. I followed that up with the leaf blower, so now we look pretty civilized, for the Lewises. I’ll watch to see if it gets warm enough for me to do some weed whacking in the area behind our shop and beside the garden this afternoon.

Otherwise, I’m planning to just do a bit of this and that today, moving from one thing to the other as the mood moves me. I LOVE days like this, where I don’t have any ‘have-to’s.’ It doesn’t happen often and I cherish them.

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and are enjoying a nice, long weekend off now.

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Thankful

Pro Church Media

“Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise… then you will discover the fullness of your life.” ~ Brother David Steindl-Rast

dreamies.de

“Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.” ~Robert Caspar Lintner

Tenor

“The thing I’m most thankful for right now is elastic waistbands.” ~Author Unknown

The Emily Post Institute

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ~William Arthur Ward

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Happy Thanksgiving 2023

Giphy

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you spend time with people who mean a lot to you this holiday.

We enjoyed a quick message from our son, who lives across the world from us. He is 12 hours ahead of us (or maybe 13 with Daylight Savings), so it’s a bit difficult to actually talk real time. He said he enjoyed a good Thanksgiving dinner with his friends. One of the nannies who takes care of their toddler told him about a place that houses children who need a place to live. He checked it out and decided to sponsor a child there, sending a monthly donation.

I’m thinking I’ll get out and see if I can get some weed whacking done this morning. It’s a bit cool, at 52 degrees, but the sun is shining and I’ll be working hard enough I think I’ll be okay. I would love to get things neatened up around the house and under the deck.

Have a wonderful day, filled with food and family!

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Wednesday 11-22-2023

I’m pleased that a lot of people are getting at least a long weekend, if not even more days off for Thanksgiving. THAT gives folks a good thing for which to be thankful, if nothing else. :0)

We’re having a quiet day today. We go for a routine doctor appointment today, but that’s it for errands. I’m going to work on my Etsy site some more, making what I hope are changes that bring more people, and that they like what they see when they get there.

I’m also still working on the glass etching project in my art room, doing a bit each day. I’m now zeroing in on the ones I need to finish first.

Since my husband and I prefer the leftovers AFTER the main Thanksgiving dinner, and we’re by ourselves this year, I went ahead and cooked our turkey yesterday and served it with corn and homemade macaroni and cheese. I have finally learned to trust the instructions on the turkey, plus using a meat thermometer, so I didn’t overcook it, making it come out too dry. My husband proclaimed it, “perfect.” :0) We have plenty left for the traditional dinner with the fixings tomorrow, plus turkey sandwiches, our favorite thing, for several days.

My husband and I have never ‘fought’ about traditional things that married people do. We ‘fight’ over what design to cut out as a mailbox decoration next, or what colors to use in painting it. Lately, we have been ‘discussing strongly’ whether to have the heat or the air conditioner on upstairs. Right now it’s 43 degrees F. and we have the heat on downstairs. We have had the air conditioning on upstairs since my husband sleeps better when the air temperature is cold. We finally compromised on the upstairs – turning on the heat, but setting the thermostat at 68. We’ll see how that goes.

Hope you get through Hump Day well!

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Withdrawal Help for Halloweeners

Do you get caught up on all the hoopla around a holiday and have trouble going on with life afterward? Here are some skeleton art images that hopefully will help us through today and get back to ‘normal.’

These were gathered into an article by Ezzly on hubpages.com. I hope they helped you as much as they did me.

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Halloween Sweet Treats

I love all the ghoulish, scary stuff that people create for Halloween. I laugh at the wonderful skeleton art and simply can’t find enough of that. There is also a SWEET side to Halloween through photography and artwork that rounds out the “special-ness” of the holiday nicely –

“Seasonal Greetings” – Mr. Barghest – @Mr_barghest_ on X

“Let Spooky Season Commence” – Mr. Barghest – @Mr_barghest_ on X

Gregario Catarino – @gregcatarino1 on X

And the award for one of the sweetest Halloween photos I’ve EVER seen goes to – cutigers-@cutigs1 on X – My heart simply melted into a puddle when I saw this. Still does. :0)

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Halloween-Eve 2023

Amy D. Pinterest

Pinterest

Sandy Brower – Pinterest

Artur Luczak

I’m delighted that people are getting into ‘skeleton art,’ and I’m a bit disappointed that they haven’t expanded the creativity and humor into other holidays yet. Maybe one day.

In the meantime, Artur Luczak shows us how a master carves a pumpkin (or two) into works of art.

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Oooooh!

Source Unknown – Sorry. These costumes would be particularly good on rainy, cold Halloweens, except you’d need a way to free your hands to gather candy and other goodies.

Pinterest – I think I would stay clear of this guy. Isn’t he wonderful? Not clear if this is a costume or a yard decoration. Whichever, I love it.

Pinterest – I think this is SOOOO creative. Might even give you nightmares if you met him on the street…

YouTube.com – I would definitely think twice about trick-or-treating at this house.

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Countdown to Halloween 2023

BT – @bikertrash68 on X

Each year I look to see what’s new in pumpkin carving, costumes, and decorations. I found these cute children’s costumes –

All of these children’s Halloween costumes were provided in an article on BoredPanda.com by authors Inga Korolkovaite and Janus Caunt

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Halloween Past

@cutigers on X

My dad and I shared Halloween and the 4th of July as our favorite holidays.

I remember one Halloween when my dad, who was 6’2″ tall and skinny as a beanpole, dressed up as a pregnant nurse. I was just a child. I wish we had gotten a picture I could share with you, because as I think of it, I can see him right in front of my face, and I keep smirking and snorting with the memory.

My dad wore glasses and had a mustache and short goatee type beard. I don’t know where he found the nurse’s uniform, but he wore an old style nurse’s cap on his head with a blond wig, and his glasses, beard, and mustache hanging out. He put a pillow under the uniform part, and wore ‘hose’ and white sneakers. He wore a stethoscope around his neck and carried a HUGE syringe in the pocket.

He had made up a whole speech to go along with his costume. The only other memory I have of that Halloween was my parents’ friends laughing so hard they had trouble standing up. In fact, several took one look at him and made straight for a chair in our living room, laughing their heads off.

My dad has been gone a long time now. He said, “Remember me laughing.” It was a long time before I could, but as the years pass, I remember not only HIM laughing, but all the rest of us, as well.

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Halloween and Creativity

The Pioneer Woman

Pinterest

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was trick-or-treating, we came up with our own costumes. We might buy an accessory or two, but mainly we decided who or what we would ‘go as,’ and then start trying to put the look together. It was fun, and part of the joy was the figuring out who your friends ‘came as,’ and if they would ‘get’ your costume goal.

Then there was a period it seemed like kids and their parents just wanted to buy their favorite characters off the shelf at a store. Homemade things were just sad at that point, and stores charged more and more for you to buy the ‘in’ costumes.

Now it seems that anything goes, and I love that. Each year I scour the Internet to find out what is new this year, and the creativity of people thrills me. The costumes just get cuter and cuter and the decorations and pumpkins improve exponentially each year, although I would have sworn they couldn’t.

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Halloween Memory

mbcreativestudio.com

My husband and I still feel bad when we think of one Halloween years and years ago when our son was about 5.

My husband decided to ‘get into the spirit’ and went out and bought a rubber mask. He tied a pillow around himself to give himself a hump back, made a hole in a large piece of burlap and pulled it over his head, then donned the mask. He looked really gruesome. He was proud of his costume and looked forward to trick-or-treating with our son, plus scaring kids who came to the door for candy.

Well, even though our son had watched the whole process of making the costume and watching my husband put it on, when it was altogether our son freaked. He was scared and crying. When it was obvious that our son was really upset, my husband took the costume off and took our son trick-or-treating while I handled our visitors.

When he got back, our son was sleepy, so he spread out on the couch while my husband put the costume back on and proceeded to have a grand time scaring all the kids. I had to go out and buy more candy because the word spread and I think the whole neighborhood turned out to see the scary thing at our house.

Even when the holiday was over and the mask was on the floor where we encouraged our son to stomp on it, if he wanted, or put it on – which he refused to do – our son still wasn’t happy until my husband put it away – far away.

A mixed bag of memories, for sure. Our son still remembers the mask, and NOW loves the idea…

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Halloween Nostalgia

Costume-Works.com

Back when I was a young child (before 1492 and Columbus) I would make my own costume and my friends and I would go trick-or-treating in a group by ourselves, promising to stay in the neighborhood to the south of us and to be home by a certain time.

The only thing we worried about back then was the possibility of a razor blade in the middle of a caramel apple. Since I wasn’t a big fan of those, I didn’t worry at all. My favorite treat was a candy bar.

I have so many wonderful memories of Halloweens with my friends. We talked and laughed, ran and danced, filled our sacks or other containers with goodies to pour over when we got home.

It makes me a bit sad that the holiday has had to change so much due to the way of the world now. I’m glad that kids can still dress up and either go to a Halloween get-together, a haunted house, or do a bit of trick-or-treating with mothers driving slowly behind them, or taking them by the hand. Better than nothing, but oh, I wish kids could experience the freedom and joy we did!

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Halloween 2023 – 1

diydarlin.co

I love Halloween – the feeling, the creativity people show regarding costumes and decorations, trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, and more.

I have fond memories of trick-or-treating with my friends when I was in grade school – a hundred or so years ago. Back in the dark ages, it was safe to actually go trick-or-treating. A group of us would head out to the neighborhood behind us where the houses were closer together and the Halloween spirit was high. People would turn on their porch lights or keep their house doors open to show kids they were welcome.

We wouldn’t stop until our containers were full and we hardly had the strength to walk all the way home again. It was glorious.

The only warning back then was to be careful of apples because some bad people might put a razor blade in them. Since an apple was the least favorite thing I might gather that night, I could readily ‘watch out’ for that! :0)

I loved the freedom of that night. Being with friends so late at night, sharing the one night a year it was okay to gather and then eat candy, the day we donned our costumes and enjoyed the houses decorated for the occasion.

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9-11-2023

ABC

9-11-2001. In some ways it seems like yesterday, yet there is a whole generation who doesn’t know first-hand what happened that day – who learn about it as just another item in history books, or just another story their parents or grandparents tell.

The world has ‘moved on,’ with holes in their hearts. As usual, no one has really been held responsible. We watched 60 Minutes last night. The section where they interviewed some of the children of the firemen who lost their lives particularly got to me. Their lives were forever changed and they have decided to honor their loved ones by becoming firefighters themselves, continuing the legacy.

There is definitely a ‘before’ and ‘after’. ‘Before’ we thought we were invincible. Awful things happened in the world, but not to the U.S. We felt bad for what man did to others, but it was somewhere far away. ‘After’ we realize that it CAN and DID happen here. The awful thing killed friends and family HERE.

Each year on 9/11 we honor the people who died – people at work, people walking by on the streets below, people trying to fly home – and then all the people who tried to help in the aftermath – plus all the loved ones.

We face the new normal that we ARE vulnerable. There are people who live to try to hurt us. Our leaders say the ones responsible will pay – and they never do – and the world goes on the best it can. We hold all these innocent people especially close in our hearts today.

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Labor Day 2023

MemmesBams

“Observed each year on the first Monday of September, Labor Day is at heart a celebration of the hard-won achievements of America’s labor movement and a recognition of what workers have contributed to the nation’s prosperity.”

My dad loved the fact that he was born on Labor Day of 1919 and felt the celebration was also of his birthday. :0)

My opinion is split on the idea of labor unions. I’m delighted that people had the guts to band together to fight the powers that be for better working conditions, pay, healthcare, and more. There is power in numbers and standing up for what you need is important.

On the other hand, I have seen workers who will ‘demand’ even in the face of companies having to go out of business because they cannot meet these demands. This is counterproductive. The owners of the companies are not the ‘enemies’ some workers act like they are.

End of opinion. :0)

A lot of people nowadays are too young to realize why we celebrate the holiday. To them, it’s just a long weekend, a chance to cook out, take a short vacation, or see relatives. (This is always a good thing – we just shouldn’t lose the reason for the holiday in the shuffle.)

Today we honor the workers who make our country run the best it can these days, despite the many challenges they face. May they be happy, healthy, and prosperous.

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Pretty Sunday 9-3-2-23

Lensball-https-digital-photography-school.com

It’s 80 and sunny this morning. It’s supposed to be in the 90s – but no excessive heat warnings, flying hair balls, or anything else, so I can’t complain. I WILL be happy when the weather is more fall-like, though. :0)

The only chore I’m recognizing today is vacuuming – and that only because there is already a whole dog’s worth of hair trying to grab you by the ankles as you walk by. My husband is taking a nap now, though, so it’ll need to wait until later in the day.

I’m planning to head up to my art room soon. I didn’t get there yesterday because of the chili making, changing the sheets on the bed, and doing 4 loads of laundry. By the time I finished these, I was pooped and no longer in the mood to play. I have three things started upstairs, though, so hopefully I can make some progress.

Do you have plans for Labor Day? Are you traveling for a last vacation or to see relatives? Cooking out? Watching sports on TV? I hope you’re having time away from work and enjoying the long weekend.

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7-4-2023

Woman’s Day

Happy Independence Day!

This version of Lee Greenwood‘s “God Bless the USA” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Lee is featured, and he sings with Home Free, the acapella group, plus the US Air Force Band, and Singing Sergeants. It fills my heart right up to the top every time I hear it.

YouTube

We plan a quiet day here. I’m hoping that our neighbors down in the valley behind us will set off fireworks tonight. I enjoy getting something cold to drink and sitting out on our back porch to watch and appreciate.

Greenwood, Arkansas

Our only chore on this holiday is gathering our trash and driving it down to the bottom of the driveway for pickup tomorrow. I was good yesterday, paying bills, reconciling checkbook balances, catching up bookkeeping on my online spreadsheets and filing. I may actually make it up to my art room today!

I hope you are sharing the day with ones you love and smiling ear to ear.

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Father’s Day 2023

freepik

I lucked out. I knew my dad loved me, even though he was embarrassed to show or say it.

He gave me his sense of humor and sarcasm – things I treasure every day, and a fierce loyalty to family. He grew up handicapped due to a fall from a horse at three. His left arm was deformed and much shorter than the right. He essentially did everything one-handed. His sense of humor kept him from being bullied overmuch. It’s hard to be a bully when you’re laughing your rear end off with the person you thought to bully.

His intense creativity and willingness to think outside the box led him not only to support his family being a one-man advertising agency in Tulsa for over 20 years, but also winning an amount of celebrity and a Silver Addy lifetime achievement award for his ‘unique contribution’ in radio ads.

I will never forget the day he came to my college class where I was making a presentation regarding advertising toward my master’s degree. I brought him as a special guest to make a small speech and play a couple of ads to help me show how we could teach our students to listen critically and be smart consumers.

He ended his part with, “One of the nicest parts of my job is getting to make presentations like this. This one is particularly fun because I can tell you how proud I am of my daughter, Linda Wheaton Lewis.” The class gasped in surprise that this man some had asked for an autograph was my dad. I gasped and cried because it was such a nice thing to say, and in public!

He asked me to ‘remember me laughing.’ It was a long time before I could do that, but I got there. Remembering his favorite stories, the way he taught me to laugh at myself, and remembering his unique view on life are a lasting legacy.

Happy Father’s Day.

Jim Wheaton

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Memorial Day 2023

Home Free – “God Bless the U.S.A.” (featuring Lee Greenwood and the United States Air Force Band)

This fills my heart to bursting. Home Free is an acapella group, so there are NO instruments in this. Absolutely stunning.

ReMax Arkansas

______________

This is Memorial Park in the center of the square in Greenwood, Arkansas. There are bronze rectangles commemorating veterans on both sides of the sidewalks through the park. There is a bronze statue commemorating each of the 4 services: Marines, Army, Navy, and Air Force. On each day like this, the small flags decorate each of the rectangles.

Freepik

___________

A day to honor the sacrifice of brave men and women and their families, the ones who are gone and those who are serving now, working in very difficult conditions to keep us free.

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Celebrating Mothers Everywhere

If It’s Hip It’s Here

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” ~Rajneesh

Love Nature – YouTube

“Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that suppose to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing.” ~Toni Morrison

Mix 93.1

“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” ~Linda Wooten

My Baba

“A mom reads you like a book, and wherever she goes, people read you like a glowing book review.” ~Robert Brault

National Geographic

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” ~ Milton Berle

National Geographic

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” ~ Sophia Loren

Happy Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day 5-14-2023

Flora Queen

Being a mom is one of the toughest, most rewarding roles there is.

This drawing hangs on the wall in my computer area in my office. It was drawn as a present for Mother’s Day to my mom from one of our dearest friends, Hal Thomson. We used to have what we called, “The Thomson Wall” in my parents’ home, filled with wonderful drawings for all occasions from him. I was too young to fully appreciate him and his wife, MaryEllen, as ‘artists.’ They made their living as commercial artists, but he loved to draw and she did bronzes. I remember a rabbit she created. I simply loved them for the people they were.

I may, or may not, hear from our son today. My guys don’t make a big thing of commercial ‘holidays,’ birthdays, or other days when people are EXPECTED to do something nice. They are both of the opinion that it’s what they do EVERY day that counts. My husband sent me flowers at work too many times to count ‘just because,’ making my co-workers envious. Our son will stay up very late across the world from us to talk via our conference call program where we can see and hear each other, talking and laughing real time. They both make me feel special when I least expect it. :0)

The Atlantic

I hope you have a loved-filled day.

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May Day 2023

Encyclopedia Britannica

I’m feeling a bit hostile about being older than dirt this morning. I was fine until I started trying to find a May Day image and had to scroll nearly to the bottom of the page until I found an actual “May pole,” or any mention of it – and this was from the Encyclopedia Britannica!

Another small thorn was as I was trying to spell “encyclopedia” I remembered Jiminy Cricket from the Mickey Mouse Club singing it – and STILL need to sing it in order to spell the word correctly – “E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A!”

AND – I always wanted a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica or The World Book when I was a child. I was a pain in the rear about it to my parents, having no concept of how much money I was asking them to spend. I never got either, of course, and by the time I might even CONSIDER buying it for my family, the Internet had been born and most people had switched to using IT, rather than any other source, and had given up phone books, maps, and other things, as well.

It doesn’t MATTER that I never participated or saw anyone dancing around a May pole. I guess that I just never thought about the whole idea “going out of style – or even mention” I think the idea is a pretty one, so I’ll just think about it today, quietly, trying to get my nose back in joint.

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Happy Earth Day 2023

Just Energy

I’m planning to prune and weed my veggie boxes and tomatoes today. I hope your weather is such that you can enjoy being outside, too.

Happy Earth Day!

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Happy New Year, Thailand!

Our son has lived in Thailand for several years now. He simply loves the whole atmosphere, the people, and the lifestyle. The annual water festival to celebrate the Thai new year really surprised him and his friends the first year they were there.

They didn’t know anything about it and went out on the street to get some supplies. All of a sudden, they were drenched! On purpose! With people laughing and cheering. This continued the whole time they were out. They finally found out enough to know what was happening, and got into the spirit as much as they could.

Our son essentially said, “Once is Enough.” He looks out the window of his condo down at the street several times during the 3-day celebration, but basically keeps a very low profile, ordering food in, foregoing the trips to the gym, and waiting for the celebration to wind down.

Happy New Year, Thailand!

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Happy Easter 2023

Happy Event Day

I didn’t SEE any going on, but I HOPE there were lots of children hunting for Easter eggs this weekend. A memory I have was the Easter baskets my parents would get for my brother and me. I loved everything about them – the cheap, cheesy basket, the fake ‘grass’, the chocolate bunny, a couple of Easter eggs, maybe a candy or two. Just wonderful. When my husband and I were out getting groceries recently, I found my eye wandering to a display of Easter baskets at the store. I KNOW. I’m WAY too old for Easter baskets, but I still love ’em. :0)

We decorated Easter eggs a couple of times that I remember. We didn’t do anything fancy – just drew some designs or wrote words in wax crayons that would show up white against the rest of the dyed eggs. I looked up Easter eggs a minute ago and found that some people have brought decorating Easter eggs to an art form. I found, though, for MY tastes, the old, simpler, kid-centered decorations were much more satisfying. I did find some cute ideas, though –

APumpkinandaPrincess.com

DIY Candy

Munchkins Planet

Pinterest

What Moms Love – photo credit: studiodiy.com

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Playing in the Dirt 4-8-2023

Unknown

It’s still a bit cool right now (44 degrees F.) to work outside comfortably, but it’s supposed to warm up this afternoon. I’m planning to prep my two brick tomato planters and then maybe head to town to get plants so I can enjoy much of my weekend playing in the dirt.

I’m enjoying the fact that we don’t have any errands we NEED to do, no appointments, no chores we HAVE to do, no bad weather, no schedule. Ahhhhh. We can do what we like WHEN we like. Sheer luxury.

When I was a child a hundred years or so ago, I always looked forward to Easter weekend. Sometimes we went to an Easter egg hunt. One time our neighborhood had one.

Easter was one of the times of the year I got new clothes – something special to wear to the church service. One year I got my favorite sweater EVER – a light-as-air pullover fuzzy pink one that made me feel pretty. My mom got me a tweedy wool skirt to go with it. I still remember how special I felt when I got black patent leather shoes with straps then went over the top. They were so shiny I could see my face in them. :0)

Sometimes we got chocolate rabbits. I always ate an ear off first. A few times we dyed eggs as a family. We had some wax white crayons we used to draw designs or write words on the eggs before we dyed them.

Some Easters, before people really thought things through, baby rabbits and baby chicks were sold at stores, usually dyed pretty pastel colors.

My parents had had actual rabbits as pets (we had two – one named “Peter” and the other “Welsh” – for Welsh Rarebit.) They didn’t like the idea of getting a dyed one, but one year all my friends and I got dyed chicks. No one thought about whether it was a good idea or not, or thought about the actual chicks, who, if they made it through, might not make wonderful pets.

Luckily, we had one mother in the neighborhood who was my idea of the PERFECT mother. (She was always welcoming to her kids’ friends, baked chocolate chip cookies, let us run a ‘camp’ one year, etc. – who adopted the chicks as they grew up, lost the dye, and became actual chickens as the newness wore off and more active care was needed.

Our church service was beautiful – filled to the brim with spirit-lifting music. Children would walk down the center aisle to sit at the front if they wanted to, carrying small baskets of fruit. We had a really good organist while we lifted our voices in song. My heart would nearly burst with the beauty of it all and the joy spilling out of me.

I wish you a joy-filled weekend.

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St. Pat’s Day 2023

“Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.”
~Author Unknown

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! With the latest storms, we’ve had a return of winter-like temperatures – without the ice or snow – thank goodness. It’s 33 degrees F. here right now. I think it’s supposed to get to 50 this afternoon.

I just checked the 10-day weather forecast and it looks like I can get some spring plants in my garden next week! I’ll plan to take the weed barrier cloths off the raised bed planters and store those and the bricks somewhere safe and then see what’s available. I can’t wait!!

DIY Value Picture

We have Lunch Bunch today. I have no idea who will be there, since my friends aren’t using their phones reliably these days and don’t remember to call if they’re not coming. Happily, my husband isn’t bothered if we’re ‘stood up’ by the group. We’ll just go get our lunch at the regular Lunch Bunch time and hope we see at least some of them.

It’s not raining. It’s SUNNY. It’s above freezing. HOORAAAAAY!

Enjoy your day.

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” ~Adrienne Cook

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Happy Valentine’s Day 2023

What is love? (From the mouth of babes)

Parade

‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’

                            Rebecca- age 8 



                            'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. 
                            You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' 

                            Billy - age 4 



                            'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' 

                            Karl - age 5 



                            'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' 

                            Chrissy - age 6 



                            'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' 

                            Terri - age 4 



                            'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' 

                            Danny - age 7 



                            'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. 
                            They look gross when they kiss' 

                            Emily - age 8 



                            'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents 
                            And listen.' 

                            Bobby - age 7 



                            'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate, ' 

                            Nikka - age 6 
                            


                            'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day..' 

                            Noelle - age 7 

                            'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' 

                            Tommy - age 6 



                            'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. 

                            He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' 

                            Cindy - age 8 



                            'My mommy loves me more than anybody 
                            You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' 

                            Clare - age 6 



                            'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' 

                            Elaine-age 5 



                            'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford .' 

                            Chris - age 7 



                            'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' 

                            Mary Ann - age 4 



                            'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' 

                            Lauren - age 4 



                            'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' 

                            Karen - age 7 



                            
                            'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' 

                            Jessica - age 8 
                            And the final one 

                            The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. 

                            Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.. 

                            When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 

                            'Nothing, I just helped him cry' 

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Favorite New Years Quotes

Everyday Psych

Nothing is worth more than this day. Goethe

Your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others. Anon

I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly….

Years come n go, but this year I specially wish 4 u a double dose of health n happiness topped with loads of good fortune. Have a gr8 year ahead! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Hope you’ll have a New Year that starts right and ends Happy!

My wishes for you, Great start for Jan, Love for Feb, Peace for March, No worries for April, Fun for May, Joy for June to Nov, Happiness for Dec, Have a lucky and wonderful 2023.

A Relaxed Mind, A Peaceful Soul, A Joyful Spirit, A Healthy Body & Heart full of Love..All these are my Prayers for You..Wish a Happy New Year 2023

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A Wonderful Christmas Card

“Favorite Toy” Shane Dimmick – PumpernickelPress.com for Evergreen

This is a favorite Christmas card I received this year. I absolutely love it. The painting by Shane Dimmick is gorgeous. I wish I could hand you this card right now so you can see and FEEL how special it is. The whole front is “3-D” or “embossed.” The dog stands out from the background. His face stands out even farther. The nose is out more. The stuffed animal snowman stands out from that. You can FEEL his fur. And then the background, mostly white on white, with the dog in really faint beige and the snow man’s arms, hat, and scarf have faint color. The trees and snowflakes, snowman, hills of snow, and dog are all standing out from the background, too. I just can’t say enough, except that I’ll keep the card and put it up on the cork board that hangs on the wall behind my monitors so I can see it all the time.

The artist is Shane Dimmick. I’ll do another post about her and her work other than the Christmas cards. The card company is PumpernickelPress Here are some more of Shane’s Christmas cards –

I haven’t had a chance to check out all the other artists whose work is included in Pumpernickel Press’s offerings, but I’ve bookmarked the site for later. You might be interested in checking it out, too.

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