Angela Mia De la Vega-tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusic
This sculpture grabs my heart. Just exquisite.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
One of a kind handmade greeting/note card using real feathers. “Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons.” Savannah Larsen. Blank inside. 5″ x 7″. “Birds of a Feather” Series by Linda Lewis. $3.50 with Free Shipping. Browse through unique cards and packages on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy using this LINK.
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Freepik
I’m feeling a bit shell-shocked after receiving and paying our insurance bills this morning. All usually go up from year to year, but this aggregate of all the insurances I have to pay at once took my breath away. I’m grateful that we’re able to pay them, but WOW.
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Seasame Workshop
I’m gathering ideas for making some earrings and key chains – some wood-burned, some wood-burned and painted, and some just painted. Ideas are starting to rattle around in my head. It’s fun. :0) We’re going to head to Walmart and our local grocery to replenish supplies today because we’re supposed to have another cold front and rain overnight-into-tomorrow, but I’m hoping to spend a good amount of time in my art room, playing.
One-of-a-kind hand wood-burned and painted wood slice Christmas ornament. 4″ in diameter, ready to hang. I will personalize it for you on the back with the year and a name on the back at no extra charge. Fun to add to your tree or give as a gift. $20.00 with Free Shipping. See it and other Christmas things HERE on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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ERRANDS –
The snow tires on wheels and their lug nuts are in the back of the truck. I’m leaving as soon as I finish this to get them put on the truck.
My sister-in-law said it was a shame I didn’t get any photos of the morning view out of our back yard, where I was talking about it looking like someone had spread rolls of cotton between the ridge lines. It’s almost impossible to take pics of this, but I tried. This is for you, Sweet ML.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
Hand-painted one-of-a-kind 8.5″x4″x24″ memory box. Thoughtful gift to ‘purple lovers,’ people who love to save things that might get lost if not lovingly stored. $15.00 with Free Shipping. See this and other memory boxes HERE on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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ELECTION –
We’re feeling kind of bleery-eyed after staying up to watch the election returns. I was up a full hour earlier than usual this morning, needing to get up and join my husband, who was already downstairs. I’m hoping the people in our country can now calm down and try to solve our many problems together.
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WINTER PREP –
Freepik
Not sure what plans are for the day yet. Since it’s November, we need to start getting to things on our prepare-for-the-winter list. One of those things is to get the snow tires on our truck. My husband and I have always done this ourselves. The tires are already mounted on wheels, so it’s a case of just changing the tires and airing them up.
As we’ve aged, though, it’s gotten more and more difficult. Last year I finally convinced my husband that we should get the tires and lug nuts into the back of the truck and that I would drive to the local tire place and ask THEM to change the tires for us.
It’s enough for US to get each set of tires in and out of the truck. I just called and they can do it for us tomorrow, so one of today’s chores is to get the tires and lug nuts into the back of the truck so I can take it tomorrow.
We will probably not know the results of our national election tonight. We may have to wait until the end of the week or longer. It’s hard when our country is so divided. Emotions are high. Tension is high. I hope that everyone votes and has their voice heard.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – 8″ X 12″ hand wood-burned and painted sign that encourages you not to waste a minute of your precious time. $24.99 with Free Shipping. Use this link to see this and other wood-burned gifts on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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WEATHER –
Karin de Haas – Funda Altincekic Aysel
We had some pretty strong storms with LOTS of rain, thunder and lightning. (We’ve gotten 4.10 inches in the past 24 hours.) We don’t think we had any damage, and for that we are really grateful. Greenwood is under a flood warning until mid afternoon and it is cool and wet now. Nice day to stay inside (unless you need to get out to cast your vote).
The jury is still out on what’s going to happen with our weather. So far, we got some impressive storms overnight with lots of lightning, more rain this morning, but nothing severe. The forecasters are still saying we’re in for some rough rides this afternoon and evening, but right now the sun is shining and we have the doors open to receive a nice breeze through the house. Go figure. If it continues like this I really have no complaints.
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Suzanne Ryan – Simply Keto – Keto Chili
I just got the makings of keto chili in the crock pot for our dinner tonight. Yesterday my stomach kept telling me my throat had been cut and I was super hungry all day and evening. I ended up eating some extra deli ham plus some almonds, the result of which is showing almost 2 pounds more on the scales this morning. The scale showed its true snarky side, laughing at me as I grimaced in guilt. I’m HOPING I am mainly retaining water and will shed the “gainage” in a day or two, but who knows.
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I just ordered a new blood glucose monitor kit which should arrive soon. We’ve had our current one since my husband was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic several years ago, and it seems like it has gotten wonky, reading higher on both of us, even though we’re being very careful about sugar. We’re hoping that the new kit will help us decide if we need to basically take a fresh look at EVERYTHING we’re eating and drinking, even though we’ve been reading labels. I’ve been logging everything on MyFitnessPal.com, as well, and I know my sugar has been kept way below ‘acceptable’ levels, but my confidence is shaken.
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We discovered that our entertainment center clock should have been placed in a window in order to receive the signal to change when Daylight Savings Time ended. The problem is, if it lives in the window, neither one of us can see the readout. I’ve ordered this one –
It’s colorful, with large bright numbers and the reviews said it would be easy to set. The possible problem is that I didn’t carefully check how large the clock itself is. It may be too small for our purposes. It’s always SOMETHING…
Beautiful combination of steampunk theme and digital art. I see more details the longer I look at this.
LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – This is one of the five hand-painted custom Christmas card designs I’m offering. Package of SIX 5″x7″ on heavy card stock -$19.99 – Free shipping. Customize inner note. Made when you order. See this, details, plus other designs HERE on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy. Last date for ordering is December 10th.
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Karin de Haas
We received quite a bit of rain with lots of lightning last night. Today’s forecast is for more of the same all day long, with threats of heavy rain, thunderstorms, wind, tornadoes, and flying hairballs. We may need a boat to take our trash down to the bottom of the driveway today.
We just came back from taking the trash down and getting the mail. The ditch in front of the house is full-to-overflowing and the rain will start soon and continue through 7pm tonight. UGH.
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I hope that your day has something fun in it to make you smile.
I’m still smiling after finding this, so I HAD to share.
The Courier-Journal
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS FOR THE YEAR-
Welcome to the end of Daylight Savings Time for the year. If you’re like me, the only clocks that were correct when you awoke this morning were on your computer, and maybe your phone.
I’ve been wandering around since I came downstairs, resetting clocks all over the house. I won’t get the one in our bedroom until later -until we go to bed tonight. The last ones that will be switched are in our vehicles. I’m going to let my husband change the one in the entertainment center and his watch so he’ll feel a part of things. It was interesting to me that my new smart watch was wrong this morning. I got out the manual, and it referred me to the app I now have on my phone. The minute I accessed that, my watch started buzzing on my wrist, syncing with the phone, and the time was corrected! Amazing.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – “See the Good” is one of the wood-burned signs I’ve completed recently. It’s 6″ in diameter and very light weight. Good reminder for yourself or gift to someone you want to encourage. See this and my other wood-burned signs at this link to HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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Bernhardjaeck-pixabay
This is actually a lot lighter than it is outside here right now. We’re due for thunderstorms all day today and tomorrow, with flood warnings and possibly severe weather until Tuesday morning. If the rain continues the way it is now, we might need a rowboat by tomorrow to put the trash out. As least nothing severe now.
I hope you’re safe, warm, and dry the next few days. Take care.
Daylight Savings Time ends overnight – don’t forget to set your clocks BACK one hour if your location participates in this. The Arkansas legislature apparently takes up this question every two years. So far, the majority of legislators want to keep it. It comes up again in 2025. Maybe this time we can get rid of it.
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
Set of 3 “Gone Signs” to help you keep others notified when you escape – $12.99 for the 3-Sign-Set (Free Shipping), ready to hang as you dash away with a grin on your face. Hand-painted 3″x5″ wooden signs with gold hanging cord. Fun gift for good friends, too. HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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WEATHER – I’m hoping for a good series of long, soaky rains. We’re under a burn ban here in Arkansas because things have been so dry for so long. We have a chance to remedy that a bit with rain predicted for today through Monday, some of the storms possibly severe. Hopefully, the ‘severe’ will bypass us and everything will say ‘Ahhhhhh!’
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DepositPhotos
UNQUALIFIED GO-TO TECH PERSON IN LEWIS HOUSEHOLD – More and more I – the totally clueless tech person here – am being put in the position of solving tech problems. My husband used to be able to figure out everything and FIX things, program things, etc. All of that is changing, and I have to admit, the quality of ‘fixing’ around here is suffering, although I DO figure out key points here and there.
Example – Yesterday I asked my husband if he could help me set up the WII we haven’t used for years. I found it, the associated parts and wires, the other day when I was deep cleaning the entertainment system. Since I’m trying to move more, I thought doing the Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus groups of activities would be a fun addition from time to time. I changed all the batteries in all the parts – THAT I could handle. We had a real problem, though, getting things so that the ‘hand’ that you’re supposed to move on the screen to choose things wasn’t going to the bottom of the screen. I finally figured out that the BAR that the remote is talking to was down too low and so I taped it on top of our TV. Then we had a problem with the sound. Since our sound comes through the speakers, it complicates things. We finally figured things out – together.
Later that evening, my husband was gnashing his teeth that Google wasn’t sending him the email he wanted through his phone. I turned out that he was actually supposed to be looking for a ‘message,’ not an email. Then I taught him how to send a picture from his phone to his email so he could then forward it to our son… ACCCCCCCCK! We need a teenager on loan, please!
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Hoping for a quiet day on this ‘spotty’ rain day (whatever that is.) I wish you an extremely pleasant day.
I love the colors of this, plus I can almost FEEL the scales!
LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
I found a plain, but cute, denim purse. To me, it cried out for some daisies and 3-D gold accents. This is painted on the back, as well. Nice size – 10″x 6″, and can be carried as a shoulder purse, too. One of a kind. $24.99 – FREE SHIPPING. You can find this, and other painted purses, HERE – at HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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NEW FIND FOR MY HUSBAND – I’ve told you that he has Type II Diabetes, though he’ll deny that, calling it ‘a sugar problem.’ I’ve been looking for substitutes for the sugary things he likes, trying to help him cut out as much sugar as possible. Recently I found a muffin that he MAY switch to, rather than insisting on eating an apple fritter in the mornings. The fritter has 22g of sugar per fritter. That’s awful, but he’s hard-headed. I found Marketside No Added Sugar Blueberry Streusel Muffins. Each muffin has 2g. Yes! Just 2. A no-brainer. He said they were good! Hopefully, he will make this change. Fingers crossed.
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I hope that today is the start of a really nice month for us.
MEMORIES – I absolutely love this. I’m going to save it so I can enjoy it again and again. I have wonderful memories of trick-or-treating back in the dark ages when I was young and the world wasn’t as wonky. I would go with a group of my friends. By ourselves. No supervision. Complete freedom. Ahhhh! The good ole’ days. :0)
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LINDA’S CRAFTINESS –
This birdhouse is ready for some birds to move right in and start a family. 3-3/4″ x 5-3/4″ x 3/8″ hand-painted mini notebook with 100 blank pages inside for notes, thoughts, lists. Throw it in your purse, car, gym bag, school bag. Fun Gift. $12.99 – FREE SHIPPING. Lots of different designs – see HERE –HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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We had quite the storm overnight. The thunder woke us up sometime this morning. I was able to go back to sleep. My husband wasn’t, and so got up. He was asleep in his recliner when I came down. The cold front has gone through now, we think the rain has stopped for now, and the high is only supposed to be 68 today.
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I had a good day of exercise yesterday – videos with weights, yoga stretches, and walking. I’m hoping to get it more this afternoon. I’m also scheming about ideas for wood-burned key chain designs. Do you have any ideas for me?
One-of-a-kind, hand-painted “Stained Glass Look” Container. 7.5″ tall. Circumference 13″. Lid has rigid vinyl piece making lid fit snugly into the bottom. Signed & dated. $35.99 – Free Shipping. Click on link above for more.
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PROJECT – Unearthing the Back Porch
Mother Nature tried, but didn’t win, blowing the dirt and dog hair around as I swept, but I prevailed.
I then had to mop the floor three separate times, since the dirt, dog hair and pollen had fallen, been rained on, dried, then again, over and over. I followed this with a coat of wax to hopefully encourage the dirt to blow off better, or be washed away.
I threw away some things, put other things in other places, and cleaned the table and chairs.
You saw Monster Cat on the table. In this pic, you can see Amber deciding suddenly, mid-click, to leave the porch. :0) We have a good chance of gusty winds, rain, and flying hairballs this evening and overnight, but at least the porch will be getting NEW dirt…
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PROGRESS ON LOSING THE LARD –
Freepik
43.2 pounds down since my heaviest. 41.7 inches down. About 2 pounds to go until I accomplish my current interim goal. Since I don’t have a big cleaning project today, I’ll do my weights with the drumming exercise videos, walk, and do my yoga stretches. Still logging my steps – 4274 yesterday, just the product of cleaning up the porch.
Child’s Painted Apron – $14.99 and FREE SHIPPING – A ghost, jack-o-lantern, bats and black cat are flying all over this fun apron. See this one, plus others HERE, on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy.
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Freepik
PROJECT – Yesterday I started trying to clean up our back porch. I threw things away, cleaned the table and chairs, rehung a set of wind chimes, washed off the wooden ledge, and then started to sweep the floor in preparation for mopping, only to be snafued by Mother Nature, who was clearly laughing at me. I gave up after I only managed to have all the hair balls, flying dirt and pollen swirling around my head. I’m hoping I’ll have a better chance today, though the forecast is for gusty winds today ahead of possible severe storms tomorrow…
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EATING HEALTHY –
I’m delighted that one of the frozen food places in Greenwood is offering just what my husband and I want for easy, healthy meals. My husband is trying to avoid sugar (being a Type II diabetic), and I am trying to eat low carb (trying to lose weight). Not only is the nutrition value clear on Stu’s Clean Cookin’ meals, they have divided up their meals into categories to make it easy to find what you’re looking for. Dairy-free? Gluten-Free? They have it. There are 5 locations in Arkansas, including TWO in Fayetteville (East and West.) You can order online and then pick up if you like.
We now have a list of meals we love that meet our individual needs so shopping is fast and easy. They even give you a price break if you buy 12 meals at a time. Win/win!
I spent a total of 4 hours in the art room yesterday and finally finished the reorganization. I’ll show you pics in another post this morning.
Today’s project is the back porch, which has been studiously ignored since our too-rainy-too-cool spring followed by HOT. Now that we have our doors open, it’s getting on my nerves, so I’ll see what I can do about that today.
r/midjourney – Reddit
I have finally figured out how to incorporate the protein shake my doc wants me to drink daily into my keto lifestyle AND continue trying to lose the lard. The past two days have almost undone the damage I did with the change. To describe my scale results as ‘yo-yo’ just isn’t sufficient to the concern I’ve had that my efforts were being sabotaged. I’m beginning to regain the confidence that I CAN do both of these things with a sustainable eating plan. :O)
LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – I’m providing a link to one of my newest listings on my Etsy site HandmadeHavenbyLinda. It’s a set of 5 different watercolor paintings on stationery sheets and coordinating painted envelopes, plus 5 blank sheets for longer letters. It’s fun to have the person you’ve written call you and ask where you got the stationery. You can decide to tell them or keep it as your secret… The set will come in a nice gold box with transparent lid and a tie. Fun for you, or thoughtful as a gift.
“Pelican chillin with a friend in England” – Smile – BoredPanda.com – Nikita Manot and Dominyka
Our weather here in Arkansas is really beautiful. Cold fronts are coming through, but no rain yet. Maybe we’ll get some Wednesday.
PROJECT – My husband and I got the shelf back up in my art room. We chose different holes in the wall strips and the new brackets I ordered were correct. The shelf was heavy, but we managed it. I gathered two leaf bags of trash that I brought down yesterday. I’m hoping to wrap up the reorganization of the art room in the next day or two. Pictures later.
LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – I am having a sale on my tote bags on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy. Storewide, whether the totes are in the “Tote Bags – Painted” category or in the “Christmas” section, I have marked the price down 25% – to $13.49 – and, as always, I will handle the shipping. The links here will take you directly to the site as a whole, or the categories. Take advantage of this sale to get unique and useful “Christmas wrapping totes” or totes to take to school, work, or the beach. Great gifts! Have fun. Here’s a sample –
I’m spending a couple of hours each day trying to completely reorganize my art room so that the heavy stuff is on the bottom shelves, or in low cabinets, and then go through what I’m putting back ON the shelves to distribute weight better while I create areas of art activity, such as “stationery & notecard supplies.”
Today the first thing I’ll do is take a couple of leaf bags up to the art room to gather up what I’m throwing away so far. I don’t want to overload the trash bags, either, because we need to be able to lift THEM to put them in the trash can Monday.
I MAY get the new brackets I ordered today. If so – and they’ll work – my husband and I will put up the shelf that fell down, being careful to use different holes for the brackets in the wall strips.
I removed EVERYTHING from the wall shelves and am totally rethinking how I’ll use those shelves.
It may take a couple of weeks or more of holding leaf bags full of throwaway stuff from the art room in the garage, since we can usually only fit three bags into our humongous trash can for pickup. That’s okay. Whatever it takes.
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Freepik
Even though I’m getting a BUNCH of exercise bending over, pulling, hauling, relocating – and I’m eating supposedly right, incorporating the extra protein shake my doc wanted me to daily – I’m actually GAINING a bit of weight. ARRRRRRRRGH! I’ve read that eating too MUCH protein can throw me out of ketosis, so ugh. I’ll need to study more to figure out the best way to tackle this.
I wish you a wonderful Saturday with lots of smiles.
It’s a beautiful day here. We are supposedly at the end of our unseasonably warm weather here in Arkansas, with cooler weather to come and possibly some rain to break our drought a bit. I have absolutely no complaints.
Yesterday I spent about 3 hours in my art room, trying to get started on reorganizing everything in there due to shelf supports failing suddenly and dumping a ton of ‘stuff’ onto the floor. These are really strong shelves, but I had gotten really careless on realizing how much I was asking from the brackets. I’ve ordered replacement brackets (plus some extras) that should be delivered sometime tomorrow. Until then, there is lot of rethinking and reorganizing I can do.
Yesterday I concentrated on moving heavy stuff to lower shelves and low cabinets. I have the wall shelves empty now of almost everything. I’m going to use the lower shelf that avalanched as storage for some of groups of different types of paint when we put it back up. I’m concentrating on distributing anything with weight.
I’m certainly getting my exercise with this while paying for my carelessness. I’m bending over, moving things off lower shelves and out of lower cabinets, hauling things around and relocating them. I’m throwing away a bunch of stuff, as well, trying to create ‘areas,’ such as one set of shelves for stationery and note card supplies (with the heavier stuff at the bottom now, of course. ) :0)
It looks like a bomb hit in there, and will until most everything has found its new home and is straightened up. I’ll spend a bunch of time up there today and see what sense I can make of things.
My husband heard a loud noise yesterday afternoon. He went outside to check it out, but couldn’t find anything. I went in my art room to put the new key chain blanks away later and found the source of the loud noise.
One of the shelves that goes along the back wall was hanging half-mast, having dumped most of its contents on the counter below and the floor. It was a real mess. I asked my husband to come up and help me pile the fallen and soon-to-fall stuff elsewhere and we moved the wood for the shelf onto the floor. We will have to replace the shelf supports and I’ll rearrange. Obviously, I put too much heavy stuff on the shelf!
I’ll have to rearrange almost EVERYTHING in order to have the heavier stuff only on bottom shelves, and spaced around. I’ll also put some stuff in the shelves in the guest room and the closet. This will be a huge project with lots of bending, lifting and hauling and re-arrangement to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’ll go out later this afternoon or tomorrow to get new shelf support thingies from the hardware store to get the shelf back up.
Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota
Meanwhile, my miracle-worker Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, my massage therapist and friend, will try to undo the knots I have accumulated, so I can start making new ones, re-arranging the stuff in my art room. :0( / :0)
The bug spray guy is supposed to be here between 10 and noon today to spray for everything, including elephants. My husband and I stripped the bed last night, making sure we didn’t have any hiding scorpions, before I had any chance of getting some rest. One sting is hopefully all I’ll ever have.
I added two new small signs to my Etsy site yesterday –
I ordered some key chain blanks that may be delivered today. I’m excited to see what designs I can come up for them.
Check out my 25% off sale on all the totes on my Etsy site. These make nice gifts!
DirecTV
Yesterday the Fedex guy delivered a very small package that turned out to be all the equipment we need for the switch to DirecTV. (the ‘device’ fit in the palm of my hand). My husband immediately decided that the two of us should put everything back and hook things up ourselves. We spent the rest of the day doing just that.
We got most of the issues solved. We’re still working on some things today, but we got it working and watched some TV for the first time since Oct. 7th. NICE. (The first time we went with DirecTV we got a big dish attached to the house (it’s still there – kind of like a time capsule now) plus a metal ‘box’ that went in the entertainment center that hooked to the TV, speakers, etc, plus the remote. (We only got one remote, so I got on my computer and ordered a second one that will be here sometime.)
My plans for the day went out the window when my husband decided to make the TV work again, so I have all that and more on my list today while he fusses and tries to solve the rest of our TV issues and gets it working like he wants.
The main thing, once the bug spray guy comes and leaves again, is to deep clean one column of shelves beside the center section of the entertainment center – that is now sparkling clean – for the moment. :0)
I also want to do at least a couple of good walks (for me) today, and hopefully will have the time and energy to do either my weights with videos, or my yoga stretches.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! A hundred years ago we got a Wii, like MANY other people. I added to that, getting a Wii Fit, a CD with a bunch of fun exercises. I found it while cleaning, gathering dust. My husband is going to set up the Wii again so I can throw in some of the exercises to break up my efforts to move the lard with something fun from the past. :0)
I woke up with a bang this morning. I was putting on my shirt when all of a sudden there was a live, very active scorpion!
Ohio State News
I ran to get the forceps that we keep for such things around here (one upstairs and another pair downstairs). I lifted one sock, carefully looking at one side and then the other before putting it down; and repeated with the second sock. I moved one shoe, looked at it carefully and then shook it, in case the critter was inside. I finally moved the second shoe and THERE. HE. WAS. I picked him up with the forceps and flushed him.
I have now called our pest spray company, asking for an extra spray, or our quarterly spray date to be moved up. I asked that our guy come armed with the big guns, spraying for everything from ticks to elephants and all in-between. The nice lady on the phone laughed when I wanted him to spray for elephants, but audibly shuddered when I explained what happened this morning. I’ve been stung once and I really don’t want to repeat that. He’s coming tomorrow between 10 and 12. HOORAY!
We will go vote today. Please make YOUR voice be heard by taking the time to go vote.
I was sore from my cleaning binge, trying to get ready for the DirecTV that was due to be installed – but wasn’t – so I used our trip to Walmart and another store for food as my walking for the day (4061 steps) and stretched things out a bit with my yoga session. Hopefully, today I can do better.
When we get back from errands and such today, we’ll check to see if our trash can has been emptied and I can drag it back up to its spot up the driveway. I’ll list a couple of wood-burned and painted signs on my Etsy site and get on with our day.
Yesterday I was deep-cleaning the center section of our Entertainment center where hopefully our new DirecTV system will be installed today. Saying I was appalled at what was behind the TV and all the books, electronics, ETC. that I have ignored, due to 1) being unable to access the shelves behind all this stuff and complex wiring going from one of the shelves to another, and 2) the ‘out-of-sight-out-of-mind’ syndrome that aids a slob like me, is a vast understatement. We actually have our TV tied with rope to anchors in the back of the center-most shelf to keep it from being bumped enough to make it topple.
Since the wiring will change, we untied the TV and put it down on the floor beside the fireplace, putting a sling chair in front of it, almost touching, to keep the cat and dog from making it fall over. It will stay there until the installer is ready for us to put it back, rewire, and tie it up.
Meanwhile, all the dog hair and dust was there for all to see. It was embarrassing, like when you change appliances and want to rush to clean the area before the new one goes in. (If you’re like me.)
I started at 10:00 and finally finished at about 4:30. I took some Tylenol last night before bed, but I was still hurting and didn’t sleep well. First thing this morning I took some Ibuprofin. I still hurt when I get up, but things are easing. I plan to do several walks today and follow that up with a nice session of yoga stretches.
We have no clue when the installer is supposed to come, so we’ll have to postpone errands until tomorrow. We’ll gather the trash and take it down, but that’s it.
I’m running a 25% off sale on all of my hand-painted, one-of-a-kind tote bags on my Etsy site right now. (The link takes you directly to my totes page.) I hope you find something you like – for yourself or for gifts. :0)
Our weather is so glorious these days it’s hard to stay inside. I hope your weather is beautiful, too, and that you have a fun day today.
After fighting with our computers, TV, and a bit with each other for over two days now (after no TV since Oct. 7th and the latest announcement that our Internet/TV service provider was dropping the TV service immediately) we have admitted defeat. We were TRYING to get YouTubeTV to work on our television. All we managed to do was uncover the HUGE amount of Amber hair that was behind the equipment in our entertainment center. (I did manage to get it on my phone, but couldn’t get it to communicate with computer or TV or anything.)
We researched Dish and DirecTV and decided that DirecTV had the better deal for us. My husband spent a long time on the phone starting the service and arranging for installation tomorrow. (They wanted to come on the 31st, but my husband insisted on faster service.) HOPEFULLY, now that we’ve solved the reason for all the strife and anxiety, we can just sit and comfortably watch something on TV tomorrow evening.
Pinterest
To that end, my main ‘exercise’ for the day will be moving stuff back and forth in the Entertainment center shelves so that I can remove several whole dog’s worth of hair. I even dreamed about it – it was so bad. When I get the Entertainment center shelves under control, I’ll vacuum the tiled areas and carpeted areas on the first floor, plus the three dog beds.
Yesterday I didn’t log as many steps as I wanted, using most of the day to try to help my husband with the TV issue. I only got one walk in, but then I went back out when he went down to get the mail and managed to blow the leaves out of the truck side of the garage, the driveway pad, the front sidewalk, and the front rock bed. That, combined with a good yoga session, was it for exercise yesterday.
Today I have a LOT of vacuuming to do. Add to that another good yoga session and my walking for the day, and I’ll have ‘moved’ my lard a good amount. :0)
Lara Clevenger
I tried a new recipe last night for a “Keto Ground Beef Casserole.” The source is Lara Clevenger, a registered dietician and personal trainer. Since we were going to be busy and I knew I wouldn’t be in the mood to start cooking later in the day, I went ahead and prepped all of it to the point of pre-heating the oven and cooking. I kept it covered in my fridge. That worked out really well. My husband’s reaction was, “This is yummy. You can serve this any time.” I will definitely go back for more of her recipes.
We haven’t had TV cable service since October 7th. I contacted our Internet provider again yesterday morning, wanting an update. The tech answered, saying that they were suspending providing TV service immediately, since the provider with whom they were partnered had unsolvable problems.
SO. My husband decided he wanted to try to get YouTube TV, and we spent an exhausting day on that. I finally called it a night at 11:00. We made some progress, but still have a lot to do to get it running, with sound, and so that we can actually USE it. Suffice to say, I’ll spend the day trying to keep my mouth firmly shut, and will stay clear unless he asks for my help.
I finally received the earrings yesterday I ordered some time ago. “Something happened,” and apparently the package was lost in the ozone. I contacted Chaia and she said she would get another pair in the mail ASAP. Some time passed again. I was just about to contact her again and she wrote, saying the earrings had been mailed. A few days later, I got them. They look just like they do in this image. I think they’re wonderful, and I don’t have anything like them. Except for the delivery time. I’m very happy.
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TENS unit starter kit
My good friend, Marsha, sent me this! We are really good friends and communicate at least daily; and better, sometimes several times during a day. Even though she’s across the country from me, she is my CLOSE friend. She has used this TENS system to alleviate her pain for some years now and wanted me to have one. I’m really touched that she would get me this starter kit, plus extra electrodes. :0)
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My husband likes it really cool and really dark to sleep. I’ve gotten used to moving around with the use of a couple of extremely dim lights – a night light behind a curtain under the window, and the other the residue from a shaded light out in the hall from our 2nd floor thermostat. I walk toward the bathroom with my arm straight out in front of me so I don’t bash into the bathroom door when I get up to pee. :0)
The sheet, light velour blanket and comforter were more than he needed, but I was freezing. Yesterday when we changed the sheets, we put our electric blanket back on. The added weight of that blanket really helped me sleep better. AND, if I need it, I can just flip my control for more heat on my side. We are both happy now again. HOOORAAAAY.
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Two days ago I received my smart watch and got it set up mainly to record my steps in an effort to move the lard. That afternoon I recorded around 1800 steps. The following day I logged in 4177 steps, taking several short walks around the yard, wearing my gloves and carrying the pruners to do some neatening up while I walked. Yesterday, even though I only got outside for one walk, I logged 5293 steps.
My SIL whom I love – even though she leaves me in the dust – told me this morning that she is ‘still walking 4 miles daily.’ Humph! Instead of feeling like a slug or sloth, though, I’m not comparing myself to her. I’ll keep her wonderful ability and habit kind of as a beacon, but will only concentrate on improving MY total each day. Moving this lard SOME is much better than completely sedentary. My watch is now reminding me to “get off your duff!” and, “drink more water!”
I’m intrigued by the smart watch I bought. I set it up so that it sends me reminders. It suddenly comes on, flashing at me, saying, “Drink Water,” or “Go Exercise.” Since a lot of my activities are sedentary – computer stuff, writing my blog, listening to music, reading, playing in my art room – I NEED to be reminded that I’ve been sitting plenty long enough and it’s time to get up and move my lard, or hydrate.
It did this several times yesterday. I DID get up, put on my hoodie, grabbed my gardening gloves and pruners on the way out of the garage and just walked around the yard. I decided to stop and tackle something that caught my eye. I improved the situation a bit and then walked on. I went out to the shop and my old garden area (TOTALLY grown up now :0( ) and then back to the driveway pad, then around the house, then around the house again. (you get the pic.) I did this several times during the day.
The first afternoon I had the watch I logged 1800 steps. My first whole day (yesterday) I logged 4177 steps. Even a sloth is supposed to try for at LEAST 10,000 steps, but I’m going to 1) listen to my body and stop if my hips start yelling, and 2) try to increase MY total from the day before. If I can do that, it should be a good addition to my half hour of yoga stretches and one or more ‘drumming’ videos – which I do holding 3 lb. weights. I love the music on these.
I made a bit of progress on the scales lately, rather than GAINING and having to re-lose the same two or three pounds again and again. You can see from the graph above I only maintained and gained before finally starting to inch down again. I would really like to break into new territory one day soon, so I’m just keepin’ on keepin’ on.
If you need me, I’ll be walking, pruning, and guzzling. :0)
I don’t know the artist, or whether this is really stone, AI, or what, but I think it’s lovely.
Bakoor Fitness Tracker
This is a FitBit competitor ‘watch’ that was delivered yesterday afternoon. I didn’t need all the bells and whistles of the ‘main brand’ of tracker (though I would love one that cooks dinner), so opted for this one that was about 1/5 of the price.
All I really wanted was a pedometer so that I might be encouraged to move more, particularly to take several short walks around our yard each day.
This is paired with a software app called, “Keep Health”. I managed to install the app on my phone and sync it with the watch! (Imagine that! Non-tech old broad prevails!) I even got the clock face on the watch changed so it shows time, day and date, number of steps I’ve walked today and calories used for the walking.
I also have it set to send reminders that I need to get off my duff and get moving every so often, plus reminders to drink another glass of water.
I put the watch on late yesterday afternoon and just went about the rest of my day, doing a bit of yard work, cleaning, etc. just to get a feel for my normal number of daily steps. I ended up last night with a bit over 1800. Double that for not having it on for the morning, and I get ‘normal’ is about 3600 steps daily. I may die of old age before/if I EVER get the at LEAST 10,000 steps one is SUPPOSED to do daily for good health.
My plan is to simply try to log in more than the previous day. My hips burn and ache pretty soon after I start walking, so that’s an obstacle. But maybe that will ease up if I just continue my efforts to walk more. I’ll log my number of daily steps each day on my exercise notes on MyFitnessPal.com and see how it goes.
I did finally show some progress on the scales this morning. I had been on a roller coaster and plateau since I added the Premier High Protein Chocolate Shake to my diet at my doctor’s suggestion to improve, or at least preserve, my kidney function. I’m hoping that the combination of losing more weight, the added daily protein, and the exercise will result in better numbers at our next routine appointment in January.
Ah! My WATCH just sent me a reminder to ‘do exercise.’ Hahahahahahah. I’ll finish this and go take a walk around the yard. I wonder if she’s a nagger…
It’s almost time for me to leave to get my hair cut. I’m really lucky that I can depend on my stylist, Michael Remillard, of Tangles Hair Studio in Greenwood AR 479-996-6366 to make sense of what lives on top of my head. My hair has always been thin, fine, and awful to work with, but now that I’m ‘mature,’ it takes even more. I come out from Michael’s looking like someone has a plan, and that means a lot to me.
After fighting to get both of our irrigation units reprogrammed after our electricity went off and on quickly the other day, we had another really short power interruption yesterday, making us realize we probably needed to do it all over again.
I also noticed, though, that several counties in Arkansas were under freeze alerts overnight. Not us, but it will happen soon, so we’ve now decided it’s probably time for us to turn off both units and drain the system as best we can for winter. That means our plants will kick the bucket since we’ve been really short on rain for quite a while now. In fact, the whole area is under a burn ban and a wildfire sprung up yesterday that they are still trying to contain.
We’ll have to get out our ‘get-ready-for-winter’ list soon. I much prefer the spring, when all is opening up again, rather than all this shutting down and prepping for possibly being stuck up on our ridge line. We have a great start on things now since Richard Billett came and worked on the driveway vegetation for us. And so it begins…
Enjoy your Wednesday. I hope it’s a good day for you.
Good morning! I’m having a slow start getting to my blog this morning. I had a note on the chat program from our son, asking me to open a PDF file. It’s from the IRS, saying he owes them money. Since our son lives across the world from us, I wrote the check, signed the form and will mail everything later today or tomorrow. Our son pays us back right away, so it isn’t a big problem.
I started a new account on Facebook two days ago because I wanted to read a new blog there. Someone hacked my account years ago and Facebook wouldn’t help me, so I closed my account. I started looking at things there, joined a few local groups, tried to find some of my old friends, commented on a few posts, etc.
I received a notice in my email later from Facebook saying my account was suspended because I hadn’t followed their rules. They didn’t point to anything, so I have no clue. I appealed the decision, saying if they would let me know what I had done, I would make every effort not to repeat it. I haven’t heard anything since, and I’m still suspended, so you MAY be reading the words of a ‘terrorist,’ though, from what I’ve read elsewhere, Facebook allows THAT…
Montgomery Child Care Association
We don’t have anything scheduled today. I’m hoping that things will be quiet around here. I’m working on a couple of signs in my art room, have ideas for two more, and am getting supplies gathered to try to paint some new stationery and/or note cards.
Freepik
I’ve been trying to walk more, to add to my weights videos and my yoga stretching. I ordered a competitor of the Fitbit watch. I don’t need the brand name and all I really want is for it to track my steps so that I can keep track and try to increase it each time. I should get it Thursday, I think.
Source Unknown
I’m on a bit of a plateau on my efforts to lose the lard since I started the protein shakes. I’m tweaking what I’m eating otherwise. I’ve read that eating too much protein can knock you out of ketosis, but I’ll keep doing this until my body has a chance to settle. It’s important that I increase the protein, so the tweaking and increasing movement will continue, hoping for the best.
The weather here has gotten so much cooler in the mornings and nights that not only have we turned off the a/c, but we wait to open the doors until closer to lunch time. What a welcome difference! Monster Cat is a bit ticked because she likes going out on the back porch. In the early evenings there are some bunnies running around and she fantasizes about catching them and eating them. Amber enjoys lying on the tiles right in the doorway to catch the nice breezes.
Our terrific tree guy wasn’t able to take the stray pup who has been visiting us. I didn’t see the pup yesterday, though, so I’m hopeful he’s moved on.
This was the part of our driveway closest to the house Friday. Even after we had a previous guy work on getting the trees on either side of it under better control for the winter (when they tend to fall INTO the driveway from both sides during ice and snow or severe weather) I was still dreading the season to come.
Because a crew from the power company was here to clear the vegetation encroaching on the power lines, I went out and asked if anyone did work on the side or knew someone who did. I got the name and number of Richard Billett, called and left a message. He called me back very soon and came out that afternoon after work to see what we needed.
Happily, this weekend was free, so he started work early Saturday morning. He worked all day long until almost dinner time. He came again yesterday morning, starting even earlier, and finished up mid to late afternoon.
He cut things way back, but left the woody, natural feel we like.
My photos don’t do it justice, but he climbed tree after tree, carefully trimming or taking out some of the tops, opening things up so the sun can now get to the driveway more, enabling faster melting. He took out almost all the dead stuff – anything that looked like it might THINK of falling into the driveway, opening the whole driveway up. There is no way to show you how much he did, but I now feel safer about the driveway than I have in YEARS.
When he was showing me some of what he’d done Saturday and what was left to do Sunday, we walked quite a way down the driveway. It’s steep and skiddy with the gravel, so he offered his arm on the way back up. This old lady was very grateful for a strong arm to anchor me and keep me from falling on my head as I huffed and puffed my way back up.
Not only did he do the driveway, but he cut down a BUNCH of the weed trees that were impeding our view out of the back yard. (We feel if we can SEE it, we OWN it, so it makes us grin from ear to ear when we can actually see down the hill into the valley a bit.) He didn’t even charge us for that because he said it should have been done to clear the area around the power line.
So, in one weekend we are breathing a huge sigh of relief. Our miracle worker’s name is Richard Billett. His side business is called Ba_Boom Tree & Construction. Phone number is 918-315-4286. Email is Baboomtreeco@gmail.com. He does “Tree trimming and removal, Drop & Go, All phases of Construction, Framing, and Remodeling, Custom Decks, Metal Roof/Siding and Repairs.”
To say I highly recommend him is an understatement. He is honest and hard-working. He does what he says he’ll do, with care for the continued growth or function of what is there. (He left some trees in the ground to hold our soil, and took care when topping things so the trees would have continued growth.) He communicates well and wants his customers to be happy with the job he has done. He goes the extra mile. You can trust him.
Today is supposed to be the last day of unusual heat for October. We’re due for a cold front tonight with much cooler temps tomorrow. HOOORAAAAY!
Meanwhile, we hired a wonderful tree guy who worked in the heat all day yesterday and will do it again today, trying to cut back trees or branches that look like they’ll dump into our driveway at the next severe weather or the coming snow and ice storms this winter.
We’ve maintained this ourselves for the almost 37 years we’ve been here, but we’re both too long in the tooth for chain-sawing and hauling branches to the side and dumping them off the edge of the driveway anymore.
He’s actually climbing the trees, lopping out the parts of them that cut off sunlight to the driveway, so we’ll have better melting of snow and ice.
He’s also going to clear out a bunch of the weed trees that are impeding our view across the back yard. He said that if he doesn’t finish today, he’ll be here after he finishes his regular work tomorrow. He is a really nice guy and takes what he’s doing seriously. We’re lucky to have found him. (As usual, the guy we found before him doesn’t have a working phone anymore.)
I finished these in the last couple of days and listed them in my Etsy shop.
I’ve started a couple more. My husband has been calmer and has been working on computer stuff, rather than what could be dangerous projects, so I’ve had more time to relax and play in my art room. It’s really great and I THINK that, plus music and reading are keeping me sane. :0)
I’ve tweaked my program for my health by
increasing my protein (I’m drinking a Premier Chocolate Protein Shake daily, plus eating some cottage cheese during the day),
taking the new med that is supposed to protect my kidney function, plus
continuing to increase drinking water daily and
losing more weight, plus
doing my weights videos and yoga stretching.
I’m having to really tweak my eating and drinking log on MyFitnessPal.com. I’ve decided to ignore the protein part of my macro since my doctor wants me to increase it, but I’m trying to watch everything else. I dropped some things I’ve been eating, substituted things, and moved other things around, but I was able to come up with a good combination for today. I love this website and would be lost without it.
I hope you’re doing well and having a fun weekend.
Yesterday was eventful with the crews from our power company cutting down stuff that might encroach on the power lines. They said they are scheduled to come out every 7 years, but they’ve only been out once before in the 37 years we’ve been here.
We actually are due for several different crews. The one with the spinning blade that did the larger work was here yesterday. This was followed by a crew with chain saws and loppers. A third crew will follow at some point with a chipper machine to chew up what the others cut down and haul it away. Finally, mowers are supposed to try to cut the remaining grass. It’s very rocky, so I don’t know how successful they will be.
I took bottles of water out to the chain saw and lopper crew, asking if they did outside jobs or knew someone who did. I got the name and number of a guy they trusted, who does outside jobs on the weekends.
Ueda Photography
I called. He came out yesterday and gave me an estimate on two jobs – one to clear the weed trees across the back of the yard, and the other to cut back more of the trees on either side of the driveway. He actually told me he wouldn’t charge for the weed trees! We are expecting him by 9 this morning to get started on what he said would be a two-day job! HOOOOOORAAAAAAAY!
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I drank the first protein shake yesterday in my efforts to lose my lard and improve kidney function issues. I tried Premier Protein Chocolate High Protein Shake. Each bottle is 11.5 oz. 160 calories, 1g sugar, 24 vitamins and minerals. 3g fat, 20mg cholesterol, 190mg sodium, 5g carbs, 3g fiber (making the NET carb total 2), 30g protein. It was good! Not like having a chocolate shake from Sonic, but just fine. I can live with this easily. I drank it mid afternoon, when usually I’m feeling a bit low and hungry and it perked me right up. I’m really happy about this addition to my diet. I’ll tweak things around the shake so I’m staying within boundaries on everything.
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Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota
I spent time in my art room, finishing a couple more signs and starting a couple more. It is so relaxing to be up there, able to concentrate on trying to make something, away from stress for a bit, totally engrossed in trying to use my new wood burning tool and tips effectively.
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Today and tomorrow are due to be record-breakers temperature-wise, but then we’re supposed to have a cold front come through tomorrow evening to bring the temperatures down to fall weather. I’m ready.
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I hope that your weekend is a fun one, making you grin from ear to ear.
This is similar to what is on the end of the long folding arm of the machine the man is driving that is clearing the power lines in the right-of-way to the east of our house. They simply showed up and started making noise when my husband was trying to take a morning nap in his recliner. Amber’s barking and the noise finally got him up.
He took Amber and the truck to go find out what was happening. It turned out that there was a man driving a humongous piece of equipment with a cab that moved to all angles, with a long folding ‘arm’ on the front with a spinning blade to saw off anything that could encroach on the power lines. They sawed off a bunch of stuff, particularly off a humongous trying-to-die tree on the edge of what we laughingly call the ‘civilized’ part of our land.
They stopped when they saw me standing out there watching them. I complimented the man operating the spinning blade. Another man will be trying to mow the right of way, though it’s really rocky and will be a nightmare to mow. They said they tried to do it every 7 years, but they’ve only been here once before, and we’ve lived here over 35 years now.
They said a bucket truck will be here within 48 hours with a huge chipper thingie on it to grind up what they cut down and haul it off. I asked if they could take a few minutes and go all the way across the back of the yard for us with the spinning blade. Sadly, they couldn’t. :0/
We paid a guy to clear quite a bit of the back as a fire brake several years ago. He did a great job, but the stuff started growing up immediately, trying to go back to the way it was and we can’t afford to keep doing it.
Just cutting out the top of the tree on the one side made a huge difference in the amount of sun coming in on the back porch.
My husband drove out to the shop when he came back so he could fill up a low tire on the truck. He decided to mow one spot in the yard that needed it, and now has the mower still running in the shop to use up the rest of the gas in it so he can store it for the winter.
Things are quiet around here right now, but now my husband is awake and fussing at his phone… :0)
My SIL’s email this morning ended with, “You come from dust, you return to dust, that’s why I don’t dust. It could be someone I know.” I absolutely LOVE it.
My good friend Marsha came through Milton just fine. I’m so relieved. She’s annoyed that she did all the work of moving things ‘all for nothing.’ She’s saying that “at least things got dusted well.” I’m delighted and relieved she’s alive to BE annoyed. I’m assuming that my friend, Jeff and his family came through all right, since he lives in the same area as Marsha.
Mother Nature has really shown her ugly side lately. So many good people are dealing with so much loss and devastation. All most of us are able to do is to donate to the groups that are helping directly. It’s so little. :0(
We didn’t get all our errands accomplished yesterday, so we’ll continue today. Mail, post office, Walmart and bank are on the list. I should get the protein drinks I ordered, so hopefully I can get started on drinking one per day as my doc’s APRN suggested. I set up an account and got my new med ordered yesterday, as well. It will take a while to get here, but I’ll start as soon as I receive it. Everything else is “keep on keepin’ on. “
I’m going to try to get outside today to trim up some things in the yard. It looks like we may have come to the end of having to mow and weed whack, although there is something always needing to be trimmed back. Our weather is still doing the transition from summer to fall, with the weather this minute super nice, then a HOT weekend, then a cold front with cooler weather. Roller coaster, but I’m NOT complaining, since there isn’t any severe weather with it.
I hope that things are good where you are. Keep your eyes open and stay safe.
creativeartworksblog 