Category Archives: Mother Nature

Frozen

Alliance of Therapy Dogs

I just came in from doing 35 minutes of my elliptical trainer in our garage and I’m FROZEN. The garage is the only place we have a hard floor that isn’t in the way, so the trainer lives there. In summer, I have a fan on the wall right in front of the trainer so I don’t melt. In the winter, I’m on my own.

Today the computer says it’s 33 outside. It MAY be 40 up here on our ridge line, but it’s COLD in the garage. I had on a long-sleeved shirt and my puffy vest, but it wasn’t enough. Tomorrow I’ll wear a sweatshirt, THEN my puffy vest, and some gloves….

I did give myself a gold star on my desk calendar, so I feel good about my efforts right now.

This afternoon, I’ll do my yoga stretches.

I hope that YOU are feeling good, too.

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Singing in the Rain?

Vicki Wynberg – Fine Art America

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.”
~ Vladimir Nabokov

Clouds, drizzle, rain, gusty wind, hail, flooding, flying hair balls – all on tap for us today, overnight, and into the day tomorrow if the weather forecasters have it right. UGH.

We live on top of a ridge line, so we don’t have a large concern about flooding around our house, but we DO have some concern about lightning and hail, plus gusty winds. In the past several months we have had several more serious storms- resulting in several trees breaking and falling down on either side of the driveway. Happily, they fell AWAY from the driveway, rather than into it or across it, so we are simply ignoring it for right now.

This is a wonderful day to enjoy a warm, dry house.

PandaLifeHacks

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

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Perfect Weather for Tax Prep

Today through Monday is the perfect weather here for tax prep – cold, raw, rainy, gray. I don’t mean to offend tax people – in fact, our CPA is one of our favorite people. I just dread MY part in it each year.

I’ve come up with a system that causes the least pain now, though. I built spreadsheets for each category of itemization and strive to add information to them monthly so that I’m not faced with a truly awful amount of time trying to go through things to make sense of them. I finish December’s input, total the spreadsheets, print them, etc.

Our CPA provides a booklet through which I trudge, filling in information, adding spreadsheets and documentation. The booklet makes sure I don’t miss anything. I’m doing it this weekend, trying to finish tomorrow.

Then I just wait for the tax documents I need to arrive in the mail or be available for download and printing online, bag it all up and dump it on our CPA.

Since our weather is dreary and yucky, I’m not distracted by wanting to be outside. Hopefully, I can keep my head down and get this done.

Have a happy day!

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Thighs

Jim Hunt

I lost half a pound yesterday, so I’m happier today. I also earned a gold star for my desk calendar for doing almost 45 minutes of slow, easy stretches. I’ll try to do that again today, plus add back my elliptical trainer this afternoon.

We go to Lunch Bunch today, so it’ll be great to catch up with my good friends. We were finally altogether last week for the first time since before Christmas. I’m reminded over and over of how rich I am in friends.

I’m still up to my eyeballs in bookkeeping from 2020, tax prep for the CPA, and opening spreadsheets for 2021. My goal is to have that zipped up and ready to take as soon as a few more forms are available.

My husband and I are ‘OLD,’ and so qualify for the Covid-19 vaccine. Sadly, there is only one place doing vaccinations in Greenwood, Arkansas, and they have a waiting list hundreds long and won’t take any more names. They told me to call back in February.

We are having glorious weather for this time of year. Right now it’s surreal outside with lots of fog. This afternoon it’s supposed to get into the 50’s with sunshine. I will try to get out a bit and enjoy it. Tomorrow, Sunday AND Monday are forecast to be rainy.

Have a wonderful Friday. Stay healthy and safe.

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Filed under DIET!, exercise, Friendship, Mother Nature, taking care of yourself, Thoughts on a ________

Sing It!

photo forwarded by a friend

We’re having a good day. It’s cold outside (35 degrees F., cloudy and gray, with a bit of spitting rain.)

We just got back from Lunch Bunch. One of our good friends and her husband was there. The other friend and her daughter weren’t. (My friend wasn’t feeling well, so maybe we can see each other and catch up next Friday.)

We hadn’t seen each other since the Friday before Christmas, so it was GREAT to be able to share a meal and catch up. We came straight home afterwards so that we could try what will be the last attempt at a ‘fix’ for our broken microwave.

We bought it in 2004, so we can’t complain that we haven’t gotten our money’s worth, but it would be wonderful if we could fix it. The mechanism that goes between the rotary turntable motor in the bottom to the part the plate sits on inside the microwave is the problem. We have mixed up some really good, apoxy-type glue to see if we can bridge the gap and make the parts work together again. (The plastic parts are not replaceable and we cannot remove them because one part is under a metal plate that is welded in.) So, this is a last-ditch effort before we either live with a microwave where the plate doesn’t rotate or we buy a new microwave. We have it glued now, and will look at it again tomorrow.

I will head out as soon as I finish a cup of coffee to the garage to do my elliptical trainer exercise for today. I’m looking forward to playing in my art room this afternoon. I have another piece started and am eager to see how it turns out. I am planning to take the bleeding tissue paper artwork I’ve done recently to Rags & Roses (the local shop in town where a friend and I share a booth ) either tomorrow or Tuesday. I will do my yoga practice when I finish in the art room. Today is DAY TWO of getting serious about our diet and exercise plan.

My husband is working on an addition to our house security system. He has the physical part done now, and is waiting for help on a password before he can finish up.

I’m in the middle of re-reading #32 in J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts’) In Death series. I’m re-reading the series in preparation for the latest to come out in paperback (# 51 Shadows in Death) that I received recently.

It’s a good day to have a warm, dry house and too many interesting things to do for the time I have.

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Holidays

Someecards

The weather forecasters were right – it’s gray, rainy and cold, with another cold front coming through today, possibly bringing some snow. Not my favorite weather.

To add insult to injury, the motor that controls the rotation of the plate in our microwave died suddenly last night, right at dinner time. My husband is taking the microwave apart as I type, seeing if he can fix the motor. We are in ‘discussions’ about what to do if he can’t. I think the rotation aspect is important. He, of course, disagrees. We will see. :0/ Update: He has the microwave apart and the motor that controls the rotation of the plate in his hand, seeing if he can get the old motor to work. (He did – and is trying now to put it back into the microwave. I have just ordered a replacement motor from Amazon. (Isn’t THAT amazing – we bought the microwave in 2004.)

YouTube

I’m having a truly wonderful time playing in my art room with my new bleeding tissue paper. I’m trying to do something different on each one, seeing how it works. My poor brain has ideas rattling around, pushing to come out and be tried. I LOVE it.

Photographer Unknown

Tomorrow morning is DAY ONE of ‘stopping-the-splurging-and-indulgence-that-has-marked-our-holidays’ and starting ‘eating-like-an-adult and exercising’ – which will last until further notice.

I hope that YOUR Wednesday is a productive and enjoyable one.

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Filed under bleeding tissue paper art, DIET!, exercise, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Mother Nature, Pastels, playing in my art room, taking care of yourself, Thoughts on a ________

Hands Up!

© Blue Images Online Model Release: Yes Property Release: Yes People on Roller Coaster, Santa Monica, California, USA – Masterfile

Mother Nature is laughing at us again. Today is a miracle for a day in January in Arkansas – bright and sun-shine-y and 58 degrees F. It is simply gorgeous.

Tomorrow a cold front with heavy rain, plunging temperature, possible sleet and snow, plus flying hairballs is forecast.

All we can do is hang on and try to enjoy the ride!

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Saturday in the Rain

Imgur

Today is a wonderful day to stay inside, warm and dry.

First, we need to get our mail and then mail some things at the post office. THEN we’ll enjoy the rest of the day inside. :0)

I will try to find the time and energy to get up to my art room today. It’s been awhile, and ideas are starting to rattle around in my brain on things I would like to try. That idea fights with things I am passing that definitely need my attention today, so I’m not sure which will win out.

I hope that YOU are having a nice Saturday, doing something fun.

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Pretty Snow

This is ALMOST my favorite kind of snow. We had flakes that kept getting larger and larger as time passed. We ended up getting about 3 inches, I think. It fell softly, coating each branch of our trees so that they were outlined, almost as if they were painted by some careful hand.

My favorite kind of snow is just like this, except that it’s perfect for making snow critters and then GONE off streets and driveways by the end of the day. We are snowed in today, since we haven’t put snow tires on our truck yet and our driveway is over 650 feet long and STEEP. We can just admire the beauty and stay home.

I’m trying to convince my husband that we’re a bit ‘long-in-the-tooth’ to change from regular tires to the snow tires ourselves, but he won’t listen. If our driveway isn’t clear by tomorrow, we will probably start our day changing tires in the shop before our doctor’s appointment and other errands.

We have bright sunshine right now, so maybe I’ll catch a break.

It is LOVELY.

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It’s Snowing!

View out the back

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Brrrr!

Oklahoma Humane Society

It’s cold and wet here today – and the first day of winter isn’t until next week! The forecast is for rain/sleet/snow and flying hairballs all day today and overnight. It has been pretty warm here in the afternoons, so I’m hoping that it will just end up being a cold rain, as far as the streets are concerned. We plan to say in, being grateful we have a warm, dry home.

Penn Fitness Warehouse

My elliptical trainer is in the garage. It will be cold, but it will be dry, so I’ll be heading out there in a few minutes to get my rear in gear.

Pinterest

My back started to hurt a couple of days ago, so I’ll also plan to do a session of yoga stretches this afternoon to see if I can stretch things out.

I hope that YOU are having a great Sunday, too!

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Thoughts on a Friday 12-11-2020

Tricolor Heron_Green Cay Wetlands_Scott Helfrich_The Natl Wildlife Federation Blog

Mother Nature treated us well this morning.

We went to Lunch bunch and then did several errands afterwards. The rain didn’t start in earnest until shortly before we drove up our driveway. The rain is supposed to continue the rest of the day into the evening, and then we’re supposed to get more for sure on Sunday, along with cold fronts, so it was good to get things accomplished and be able to enjoy our warm, dry house now.

I spoke too soon about our window replacement yesterday. An hour before the guy was supposed to be here, he called and said he only had 2 of the 3 parts we needed. We agreed to try again when the part (backordered) arrives… I had taken most everything out of the dining area and had cleaned in preparation for the installation, so now I have an unusually clean dining area – an exercise in character-building now. :0\

After Lunch Bunch we stopped at Stu’s Clean Cookin’ in Greenwood to see what frozen meals they had to offer this week. I am so impressed with this company. Everything is spotless. Even though there are always other customers, we never have to wait long for good service. Sometimes we order ahead. Today we just stopped to see what they had. The man who fills our order is always very friendly. Great place to find frozen meals that are good for you, ready to put in your freezer or right in the microwave. Between Stu’s and another company called Real Food, we are very spoiled. They make it easy to stay on our diet, using that as the main meal of the day – UNLESS we are in the middle of a pandemic, tending to eat bad things as comfort food…

Yesterday I received a happy email notice that one of my hand-painted wooden Christmas ornaments sold in the local shop in Greenwood where I share a booth with a good friend. (These ornaments are all painted to resemble Gingerbread cookies.) Today I checked my Etsy shops and discovered I had sold an etched and hand-painted cylindrical vase called, “Fancy Butterflies.” This was bought as a Christmas gift – bought by one lady to have sent to another. I smiled all the way to the post office. :0)

I hope that you are having a great Friday, feeling ‘very spoiled’ by something or someone.

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Did It!

Dreamstime – Pinterest

Mother Nature warmed things up here yesterday afternoon for long enough that I was able to clean out the second tomato planter. This was a laborious process of trying to untangle or cut the plants off the tomato cages and supports, then stack the cages and supports out of the way, then pull the plants out – sometimes one branch at a time – then gather the frozen tomatoes that could now be used as ammunition in case of intruders, then dispose of the vegetation, then clean up a bit and put the wheelbarrow away, I was tired and cold by the time I finished, but feeling triumphant that another yard project could be checked off my list.

We had a nice tomato harvest this year, even though our weather was a bit wonky. I’m still enjoying some cherry sized tomatoes for snacks and in salads. :0)

Today’s project – again if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative – is to do some weed whacking in my garden area.

Winter for our Square Foot Garden

We converted two brick planters on the far side of the house to be used to grow tomatoes. Those are the ones I’ve been trying to clean out. As you can see here, our square foot garden is ready for the winter. This is the first time we’ve used the tarps. This is to keep the Mel’s Mix Soil Alternative from blowing out and also hopefully to keep weed growth to a minimum as far as getting the planters ready for spring planting.

It’s the perimeter of the garden outside the fencing, plus the area around the trash barrels that hold the Mel’s Mix ingredients and around the propane tank for the shop that need attention with the weed whacker. I will be happy if I can get that under control today. :0) Right now it’s 37 degrees F. – too cold, but the forecast is for 59 this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

This and my yoga will be my exercise for the day.

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Seasons

Mark Twain – Keepinspiring.me

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Thoughts on a Rainy Wednesday

Contra Spem Spero – Et Rideo-Wordpress.com

I didn’t get my tomato plants pulled out yesterday, so I just went out and tried to do it. It didn’t LOOK like it was raining much. It waited for me to get the wheelbarrow and get started pulling plants out and then the sky opened up. I put the wheelbarrow under the porch as quickly as possible and came back inside, grabbing a towel on the way to the office so I can dry my dripping hair. I’m happy that our schedule is clear today. This is a perfect day to crawl under a throw in a recliner, a cup of coffee beside you, reading or watching TV – and probably taking a nap somewhere along the way. I may gift myself some time in my art room this afternoon.

Pinterest

I am newly aware of how much my old lady yoga stretches help me. A couple of days ago I spent about half the day off and on cutting the leaves off my poor, frozen elephant ear plants, then digging out the humongous bulbs, storing them in a trash can full of peat moss and potting soil in our garage for the winter and then cleaning up outside. I really stiffened up, and shoveling things that don’t want to come out of the ground has never been a skill of mine – and certainly not since I’m older than dirt.

I did about half an hour of my yoga stretches and that loosened me up a lot, even making my back stop complaining. I did it again yesterday, doing a longer session because I had stiffened up again and my body was telling me that I’m no longer 20. Between yoga stretching, slowly and carefully, and muscle gel, I’m almost back to normal this morning.

This, and time on my elliptical trainer today will be a good amount of exercise even though Mother Nature is making this an ‘inside day.’

I hope that you can make this a good day, regardless of the weather.

Stay safe, warm, and dry.

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An Old Broad’s Exercise

I gave myself TWO gold stars on my desk calendar yesterday:

One for 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage; and another for the 30 minutes or so of old lady yoga stretches I did in the afternoon. :0)

Clipart Library

I am planning to do this again today – not making excuses or giving other things priority – a difficult thing for me.

Even though I KNOW that I actually feel better when I exercise – feeling more in control, a bit ‘virtuous,’ and actually looser – I fall into my bad habits over and over.

I’m hoping that the fact that I keep trying is a good thing overall.

I will get some added exercise today – we had a freeze overnight. I thought my plants had come through it, or it didn’t actually get to freezing, but just discovered I was wrong.

Before the freeze

My elephant ear plant leaves are hanging over, completely done in by Mother Nature. It’s really cold outside now – 29 degrees F. with a stiff wind, but I will go out and try to cut the leaves off and bring the bulbs into the garage for storage in peat moss and potting soil.

Maybe with the added work outside, I can give myself THREE stars today…

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Winter Approaches

DeMilked

Mother Nature is bringing winter closer in Arkansas in the coming days. I’m not ready.

I’ve really been enjoying the fall. I’m not a hot-weather person. I’m not really a cold-weather person, either. The temperature range at which I feel comfortable has lowered and then narrowed as I age.

Right now it’s around 42 degrees F. and very cloudy, wet, and raw outside. A good day to express thanks for a warm, dry house.

We got our irrigation system turned off, hoses unhooked and drained, vents closed, and outside faucets covered this past week. We’re supposed to have freezing temperatures each morning for at least the next 10 days, starting tomorrow morning.

We have had a wonderful season of veggie garden, flowers, and elephant ear plants, so I’m trying very hard to be thankful for that without being too greedy for more. I love to see things thriving and blooming all over the yard and in the garden, so it’s hard to see that come to an end.

I’m setting up in the garage to have a small place where I can try to get seeds started for my spring garden. If I’m successful, I can get an early start to good veggies for the spring!

I hope you are somewhere warm and dry this morning where you can dream of veggies and flowers in the future.

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Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Thoughts on a Wednesday 11/25/2020

So Feminine

Mother Nature played the Big Bad Wolf last night, huffing and puffing and trying to blow our house down, first with a tornado warning and then with a severe thunderstorm watch the remainder of the night, but we seem to have come through fine, with no damage we have seen so far.

The reason for the histrionics was a cold front, lowering our temperatures quite a bit. Right now it’s gray and 40 with a nippy wind, but it’s supposed to warm up to the mid 50’s this afternoon. It didn’t freeze hard last night, so we still have our plants.

This morning we will head to the exclusive emporium of Walmart in an effort to gather goodies for our lazy celebration tomorrow for the two of us. We will try to get a rotisserie chicken, potato salad, and baked beans. I hard-boiled some eggs this morning in preparation for making deviled eggs tomorrow. We’ll also get some raw veggies – because life goes on after Thanksgiving gorging – and we’re enjoying those with Ranch dip for a snack in the afternoons in our efforts to lose the lard.

My efforts to cull our books are going well. I have my shelves upstairs in my bedroom cleaned out now, down to the books I want to keep mainly. (The only other candidates for culling are my art books, and I’m not ready to let go of them yet.) The guest room shelves are no reorganized and neat. We are selling several books each day, so I’m happy with our efforts to get rid of things at the moment.

I’m not sure what I’ll tackle today yet. There are SO many areas crying out for attention it’s hard to choose, but I’ll tackle something. I will also choose a container to fill with a combination of peat moss and potting soil – ready to receive my elephant ear plant bulbs when the first freeze zaps the leaves. I will keep the bulbs in the garage, ready to put out in the planter again in the spring.

I hope that your Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving is a safe and happy one!

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Last Hurrah?

Gif Abyss-Alph aCoders

The cold front seems to be coming through now. It’s cold and rainy – a GREAT time to have a warm, dry house.

When we got home from errands, we went back outside and shut down the irrigation system. This involves turning off a control, disconnecting a hose and rerouting a water system in the well house, and then disconnecting a main hose that runs across the front of the yard just off the civilized part we mow. We then gathered outside faucet covers and installed those all around the house, closing the vents. The forecast is calling for a light freeze overnight, so we’re just in time.

I then came back outside again and gathered what will probably be the last of the tomatoes.

We have had a really good run of tomatoes this year, despite a lot of weird weather. These are mostly cherry tomato size – perfect for salads and snacks.

This is probably the last of the roses and one twice-blooming iris I found.

And finally is my elephant ear plants. They are tall enough to almost cover the window in the garage. The research I did said that after the first freeze, I should cut the leaves off and store the bulbs in a combination of peat moss and potting soil in the garage until the spring. Fingers crossed that will work.

So, a last hurrah for a good year of growing. I lost my green house in a bad storm, but I will try to start seeds on the counter in my garage for the spring. I’ll need to clear things off a bit again, but I have a grow light set up, Mel’s Mix in a small trash cans, and my trays, so I should be in good shape to start up again, probably in February.

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Thoughts on a Monday 11-23-2020

Prabuds – Indonesia

I just melted when I saw this wonderful photo. :0)

Mother Nature provide a lovely sight this morning – the brightest sunshine on a really dense fog in the valley behind the house! I really tried to get pictures of it to share with you, but I couldn’t. :0(

Our weather is really starting to cool off now. I put the electric blanket on our bed when I changed the sheets today. It’s NICE to be able to set it to high while getting ready for bed so it’s toasty warm when we get in.

We did our errands awhile ago – after having to drive out to our shop to air up a low tire on the truck – getting our order from REAL FOOD so we could finish stocking the freezer, mailing books we sold at the post office, stopping at a couple of other places for supplies. Then we fixed lunch when we got things put away and my husband is napping now.

The main thing remaining on my list, other than finishing the laundry, is cleaning out the aquarium.

I hope that you are having a wonderful Monday, and that you have a beautiful Thanksgiving, if I don’t see you again before then.

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Hope Comes Through Flowers

Twice-Blooming Purple Iris
Rio Samba Roses

Even though it’s 44 degrees F. with a slight wind, it was really wonderful to wander around the yard this morning, seeing what is still healthy and blooming.

As you can see from the pics on the blog this morning, I delighted in the elephant ear plants, our Rio Samba roses, and our Twice-Blooming Purple Iris.

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Hope

It’s hard to be down when flowers are blooming.

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Twice Blooming Iris

We don’t have many, but each fall a few twice-blooming iris pop up and remind us how beautiful our world is and how lucky we are to be alive.

I gathered these two yesterday, since there is a chance we’ll get a freeze overnight. I couldn’t contain my grin when I saw these in my walk around the yard.

I hope that you have reasons to smile around you, too.

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Celebration of Friendship

Since we won’t have any Trick-or-Treaters at our house (We live up a steep driveway in a rural area outside of Greenwood, I am celebrating today with our friends at Lunch Bunch.

I’ll be wearing TWO masks today – the one above plus my Humana mask for Covid. Surely the virus wouldn’t attack someone as lovely as this.

I was very happy to learn that Zeta didn’t harm my two relatives. One lives in Louisiana and the other in North Carolina. We finally have bright sunshine this morning, too, after a full week of dreary, rainy, cold weather, so things are definitely looking up.

Another pound bit the dust this morning, so I am celebrating the loss of 42.4 pounds of lardage. More to follow, I hope. :0)

Not sure what the day holds, other than Lunch Bunch, and a stop to get hamburger meat so I can make some keto chili tomorrow.

I hope there is sunshine and fun in your day.

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Brrrr

Twitter

We will have cold, wet weather the next few days. It’s not raining right now, but it is REALLY overcast and gloomy. My initial reaction is to go back to bed – and if not that – at least spend all day in my recliner under a throw with a heat pad, making a nice warm nest with coffee beside me and a good book in my hand.

The change has been pretty sudden. We had the doors open enjoying bright sunshine with a nice breeze in the middle of the week. A 30 degree drop in temperatures has really changed things.

If the weather cooperates, I’ll see if we have any last tomatoes, maybe pull out the plants, get the irrigation control off the outside agricultural faucet, and talk to my husband about shutting down the irrigation system.

Mother Nature has my attention.

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Roller Coaster

It was close to 70 degrees F. when I awoke this morning. Now it’s about 59. We have a cold front moving through, with possible thunderstorms, and a forecast temp of mid-40’s by the afternoon. Wow.

Yesterday we had doors open to a lovely breeze and bright sunshine. Today we have gusty winds and flying hairballs. Mother Nature is laughing at us.

We are due to leave for Lunch Bunch and errands in 20 minutes. It looks like we may blow away or drown.

Enjoy your day!

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I Love Fall

PicMix – Tenor

Such a glorious morning!

We have both doors open, encouraging an airing out of the house. My husband is taking a nap, covered with a blanket in his recliner. I had the happy thing of getting a bit TOO chilly while working at my computer, and so got up and turned the ceiling fan OFF!  It’s still too wet to work outside, so I’m still concentrating on INSIDE stuff today.

I’m having an easier time of my exercise time on my elliptical trainer. It’s in the garage, so the outside temperatures are a big factor for me. I don’t have to use the fan on the wall in front of the machine now. The little built-in one on the machine is enough. :0)  Coupled with my old lady yoga stretches, I feel I am getting a reasonable amount of exercise each day.

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

I can’t express how excited (and relieved) I am to have found the frozen meals at REAL FOOD in Greenwood. (We put our pre-order in on Wednesday afternoons and then pick the order up the following Monday.) We are building our eating day around the frozen meal as the main meal of the day, eating very lightly the rest of the day. Both of us are continuing to lose weight. I’m am still cooking keto on the weekends. We won’t break any records on fast weight loss, but the scales have quit cringing so much when we get on. I’m also encouraged to have finally re-lost most of the weight I gained during the pandemic, now ready to break new ground in my losing-the-lard efforts. 40 pounds off is a nice, round number. My next goal is 45.  I am hopeful that when I measure at the end of the month, my tape measure will be happier, too.

I was dreaming last night of a new group of products to make in my art room. I love quotes, and am really inspired by some, laugh at others – so I’m going to do some paintings on small hard canvas boards, using Unicorn Spit paint, watercolors, acrylics, melted crayons, etc. and then letter good quotes that people might like on them. The ideas are rattling around, so it’ll be fun to get to my art room and see what happens.

I’m still working on cleaning out and getting rid of things – donating the things that others can use, pitching other things, cleaning and reorganizing the rest. I haven’t decided on my project for the day, but I’m leaning toward our master bedroom bath.

Our son lives in Thailand. He said he had been getting some rain lately. Then he sent us a video that he took outside his yard –

The URL is https://youtu.be/cJmdO50_A64 if the video above doesn’t play for you.

I hope that you are safe and well wherever you are today.

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More Rain!

Stephanie Stamm

It’s quite dark outside right now. Our rain is supposed to finish sometime this afternoon. All our growing things have really gotten good, thorough drinks the past few days.

Since it’s not a good day to continue work in the garden, I’m switching to INSIDE things. Since I’m such a lousy housekeeper, there is a plethora of things from which to choose on things needing to be cleaned. :0/

I am planning to try to get up to my art room today to try to finish the bookmarks I started recently. I have more ideas rattling around in my head that I would like to start when I finish the current project and get things cleared off.

source unknown

I am happy to report that I lost another couple of pounds this morning!  That gets me back to my 40 pounds off from my lardiest!

These sweet bears are from when I lost weight several years ago with Nutrisystem. As with the gold stars I put on my desk calendar for exercise, these were motivating. We stopped this program because they discontinued most of the food my husband liked.  I’m happy to have re-earned the green bear…

So far I am very happy with our new eating regimen of having our main meal of the day a frozen entrée from REAL FOOD in Greenwood. Their food is delicious, and the portion is controlled. We are skipping breakfast and eating something light, such as tuna fish salad, for lunch and then MAYBE a careful snack mid to late afternoon, if we are hungry. The careful eating plus exercise (elliptical trainer and yoga stretches) seem to have me on track again, and for that I’m truly grateful.  (We will pre-order for next week when they list the choices this afternoon. )

I hope that you are having a good day, full of love and free from stress.

Stay safe and well.

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Thoughts on a Tuesday 9-15-2020

dogspotting – Bored Panda

Isn’t this a sweet face with which to start a day?

I’ve been ill for the past two days and am very happy to tell you that I’m feeling sassy again.

Yesterday we went to have our semi-annual teeth cleaning. I didn’t go for years, having my husband take our son for checkups, etc., and going himself. I was really afraid to go. The only thing I had had done to my teeth, other than cleaning, was to get braces. I wore them for two years, then the retainers, all to end up with crooked teeth again. My husband got angry with my attitude. We finally agreed that “I” would start going to the dentist regularly if my “husband” would wear a helmet while he rode the motorcycle. I have never had a cavity.

Yusuf Belek

This all stopped yesterday. I have a small cavity – the first in 73 years – in a wisdom tooth. I will have it filled October 2nd. I will probably have nightmares the night before. I’m like a little kid about things like this. It’s a gut reaction, though, so I’ll just try to be a big girl when the time comes. Also, adding frustration to the mix – I had ordered three tubes of a tartar control toothpaste, since I seem to manufacture the problem. The hygienist has asked me to go back to whatever I was doing before I changed, since I had more than I had the last time! :0(

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

The good part of yesterday was that we picked up our first order of frozen meals from Real Food in Greenwood on the way home. We tried the BBQ meatballs with sweet potato and green beans. We also bought half a loaf of olive bread. After we ate, we looked at each other and said in one voice, “YUMMY!!!!!!”  I wrote to the lady, telling her how pleased we were. I also requested two things: 1) she consider providing at least approximate nutrition information for each choice, and 2) give recommendations on how long to heat or microwave the options. (I put the bread in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, and I simply hit ‘reheat’ on the entrees, and it worked out fine, but I would like a bit more direction, if possible, just in case.

Our weather is glorious. We have doors open and are really enjoying the breezes coming through the house. ( I DID have to vacuum the first floor tiles this morning first thing because tufts of Amber’s hair were wafting around in the breezes. :0)

Amazon Handmade

Today I THINK I registered for an account on Amazon Handmade. They finally gave me a url I could copy, instead of click on, so I could put it in my FireFox browser, instead of the Google Chrome they don’t seem to like, and I was able to fill out some information. I have to wait 24 hours, and then I’m supposed to be able to start listing products for sale. Now I will see what information I can find about how to list things, parameters, etc.  One step at a time…

I am planning to play in my art room a bit today, working on the bookmarks I started. Since I’ve been sick, I am definitely taking things easy today, trying to get my energy back. I’m looking forward to trying some yoga stretching this afternoon.

I hope you have a very pleasant day.

 

 

 

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Thoughts in the Rain on a Thursday 9-10-2020

“Singin’ in the Rain” – Pinterest

 

It’s very cloudy, 73 degrees F., and raining quietly here. We have our doors open so that we can ENJOY every minute of the rain and cooler temperatures!

I was unable to find any lettuce plants, so I won’t be planting in the brick planter near the house for the fall. :0(  We still have a few tomatoes, so I’ll just enjoy whatever we can harvest from that and the ‘nook’ planter as long as they are producing. Yesterday I got caught up pruning rose bushes, and then overgrown stuff from more planters, so I didn’t get out to murder the fire ants in the main garden. That will have to wait another day.

I DID get up and play a bit in my art room yesterday!  (I converted a bedroom to be my art room.)  It’s been forever, since other priorities have eaten up our days, so it was really nice to spend some time up there.

Thomas Merton – Healing with Art via Cathy Ruggiero

 

I decided I would make some bookmarks to sell at Rags & Roses, the wonderful local shop in Greenwood where I share a booth with my good friend, Carla.

I played with my Unicorn Spit paint that my sister-in-law, MaryLou, sent to me as a nice, ‘just-because’ gift I guess about a year ago now. I have SO enjoyed experimenting with what I can do with it, and have barely scratched the surface. I also used some rubber stamps. I let things dry overnight and will go up and spray the sealer on them next. When that is dry, I’ll do the finishing touches to make them into bookmarks!  I love choosing the ribbons, strings, beads, and stuff to add to them. :0)

 

“Caught Red-Pawed” – Audrius P. – Bored Panda

 

We have about a day and a half’s worth of BistroMD meals to finish. My husband and I got online last night and ordered some meals from the new local place in Greenwood called Real Food.  We can pick up our order Monday afternoon. In the meantime, my husband has asked me to make “Keto Chili,” Saturday, one of our favorite recipes from Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto.

 

 

I’m truly delighted that I was finally able to find a place that the elephant ear plants my friend, Laufrain, gave me back in September last year would be happy. I wintered them over on the floor in our dining area by the window, and then put them out on the front porch when it was warm enough in the spring. They were very UNhappy there and almost croaked! I decided to TRY them in the planter we rebuilt along the front of the house, thinking they would get more sun, but would be more protected from wind here. As you can see, they are smiling!  (As you can also see, I will spray the ‘greenery’ in the rocks with KillsALL weed killer on the next dry day we have…)

Today I will work on the bookmarks. I’m not sure what area of the house I will attack on my decluttering project, but I’m leaning toward the shelves in our bathroom. We have a set over the toilet, and two floor-to-ceiling sets in the main part of the bathroom.

 

Amazon Handmade

I will also see if I can make any progress registering my shop on Amazon Handmade. We are still fighting over whether my Google Chrome is ‘acceptable’ or not at this point. I have upgraded to the newest version. My husband checked my computer and confirmed that. I’m still getting the screen that says I need to upgrade my browser to meet their requirements. ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

I hope you have a glorious Thursday.

 

 

 

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Thoughts on a Thursday – 9-3-2020

Bored Panda

Good Morning!

We MAY finally be getting a reprieve from the rain and some cooler temperatures soon! I couldn’t be more ready. The humidity is 98% right now, according to the local weather website. It’s like pea soup outside. We still have the doors open, getting what breezes we can. I’m ready for fall.

First thing this morning I cleaned out the aquarium. These two goldfish have the award for messing up their water faster than any other fish on the planet, I think. Even with the new, fancy, three-part filter, the water was terrible this morning. Thankfully, I can change things out in about half an hour now.

The water is now clean enough that when I take a picture of the aquarium, you can also see parts of the kitchen behind it, PLUS the reflection of the dining area window on the other side of the room. :0)  I’m trying to teach them to say, “Thank You,” when they get into the sparkling clean tank, but no luck so far. I would even be happy if they did a cartwheel or something, or blew some bubbles at me. They only do THAT when I feed them. The thing I DON’T want them to do is roll over and play dead…

 

 

Today I will try to register for my Amazon Handmade account and see what happens. I am hopeful I can get lots of questions answered so I feel I know what I’m doing.

Amazon Handmade

I have started two leaf bags:

Leaf Bag # 1 is for things to donate to the Disabled Vets Thrift Store in Fort Smith.

Leaf Bag # 2 is for trash.

 

I received an email that we are supposed to receive our first week’s delivery of BistroMD meals tomorrow! We have both chosen the diabetic plan. My husband denies he has Type II diabetes (he says he has a sugar problem). He thinks only people who have to give themselves injections are ‘diabetics.’ Since we are both trying to stay away from any added sugar, we feel this is a good choice for us.  I will let you know how it goes.

My ant stings/bites/welts are almost gone now. I have a couple of spots I still need to put anti-itch ointment on, but I’m back to normal, otherwise. If things dry out a bit, the revenge murdering of ants commences tomorrow…

PestWorld.org

Have a happy Thursday!

 

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