Category Archives: Thoughts on a ________

Sunday 1-19-2025

D. Garner-via Tina Anja-Pinterest

This wonderful image made me smile. I don’t usually make THIS much of a mess, but it’s sometimes close. :0)

We got a reprieve from Mother Nature. She didn’t give us any more ice or snow and our driveway is finally pretty much clear. We are free to come and go like normal humans now! As for a lot of our country, the cold front barreled through yesterday. Our low was 13 degrees F. this morning, but it’s already up to a balmy 19 – and with our driveway ‘driveable,’ I have absolutely no complaints.

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Photo by Marko Poplasen-stock.adobe.com – Good2Know Network

I started a wood-burned squirrel in my art room yesterday. I’m using a nice oval-shaped piece of wood that has natural edging. I’m looking forward to spending time up there today.

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Adobe Stock

So far, our day is quiet. My husband is grousing because one of the computer parts he needs next for his ‘building-me-a-new-computer’ project doesn’t come until tomorrow. It may not even come THEN, since it’s Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Day, too. I won’t mention that, though. Shhhh!

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Rita Wilkins

You can finally tell that someone is trying to clean out my closet now, after several days of sessions. Yesterday I tackled shoes. Today will be purses and then I’ll start on my cubbyhole shelves. This may finally come together!

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Photo Credit – Andrea-C.-Miller_Shutterstock

I just vacuumed our tiled areas on the first floor (pantry, kitchen, dining area, utility room, and 2 half baths) and gathered an entire dog’s worth of Amber hair. There was a bit of Jet (aka Monster Cat) hair, too, but Amber won the contest hands down. She should be completely bald by now, but she still has a thick, healthy coat of hair. She won’t stand for me vacuuming HER directly, and has little patience for the dog brush, so I’m stuck with vacuuming at least every other day. Good thing she’s a wonderful pet and we love her to pieces…

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Our day here is bright and shiny. I hope yours is, too!

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Saturday 1-18-2025

Peter Johne-Pinterest

The cold front is coming in during the day today. UGH. We still have ice and snow on our driveway. It was 42 degrees when I woke up. Now it’s 37, so the front is starting to move through. After today, the temperatures won’t go above freezing until Thursday.

We’re going to celebrate our ‘last hurrah’ of being able to get down the driveway by going out before lunch, getting our mail and hitting the local grocery one more time, getting lunch at the deli and some other supplies. Once we come back up, we may be stuck up here for at least a week or more.

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I finished this last night. My art room is one of my ‘escapes’ when the world gets to be too much and I need to relax and play a bit. I close the door – so Monster Cat can’t get in – turn on some of my favorite music, and enjoy clearing my mind and concentrating on trying to make something. Even if what I make ends up in the trash, I come out more relaxed. I’m going to get this listed on HandmadeHavenbyLinda later today.

Hanna Kenakkala-bookwormweb

I’m lucky that I have so many things that bring me joy I don’t have time to enjoy them all most days. I just finished reading “The Villa,” an old book by Nora Roberts, but one I had missed. Now I’m deep into one of the “In Death” series books by Nora/J.D. Robb. I have collected them all. With each re-read, I pick up details I missed before, or stop and enjoy a phrase or two that are so well written that the mental picture she creates is stunning.

Freepik

Listening to music on YouTube allows me to savor old favorites or find new people I think are wonderful. I put on the earphones at my computer in the office and am taken away from any cares I’ve been lugging around for a bit – while in the living room, my husband enjoys another truly awful movie with little plot or acting, but lots of action. :0)

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I hope that you have a fun and enjoyable day. Stay safe and warm!

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Friday 1-17-2025

Mark – Pinterest
Threads

Today is probably our second, and last, day of being able to get down our driveway and back up again, so we’re going to celebrate by going to Subway to get our lunch. My husband likes a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and chips. I’ll have a Subway Club Salad. YUM!

This afternoon we have a good chance of rain. That may help the driveway melting some or might cause more difficulty. It has gone both ways in the past. Tomorrow comes the deep freeze, with temps not getting above freezing until Thursday (I think). That means we’re socked in for another week or so.

I’ve rescheduled or canceled our appointments for the coming week, and may have to continue that NEXT week, as well. Did I tell you I’m ready for spring?

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FirstCry

I’m really having fun working on the wood burned owl in my art room. I THINK he’s coming together now, looking more like an owl. It’s so nice to escape to my art room, turn on my music, and lose myself in the joy of figuring out what tool, technique, medium, or color to use next!

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iStock

My closet is definitely showing signs that someone cares now. Today I’m tackling my shoes. I have way too many pairs. I have a group of ‘go-to’ shoes and those will be my core. My goal is to find at least half to donate.

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Park Avenue Appliances

It looks like we’ll have to buy a new fridge. The bottom freezer failed yesterday. I got it cleaned out, and the tech is now scheduled to come on the 30th (assuming he can then get up our driveway) to give the final verdict, but it doesn’t look good. We bought our GE Profile fridge in 2006. We have really enjoyed it, so we will hope to find another we can afford.

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I hope the weather where you are is such that you can get outside a bit. I’m going to make a point of walking around in our yard this afternoon, rain or no rain.

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Thursday 1-16-2025

Anca G – Jodee Lewis – Pinterest

Things are definitely looking brighter here this morning. It’s 31 degrees F. now, but it may get into the low 50’s this afternoon! Woo HOOOO! :0)

We will try to get down our driveway this afternoon to get supplies. We’re due for a cold snap Saturday evening with uncertainty as to rain or snow, so we’re hopeful we can get what we need and get back up to the house.

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Tip-TopBrain.com

I’m still wood-burning the owl piece in my art room. The jury is still out on whether it will look like anything when it’s finished, but I’m having a really good time listening to music while I try the best I can.

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Reddit

My efforts to lose my lard are marginal, at best. I’m redoubling my efforts to write down anything I eat or drink, staying within the guidelines I established on MyFitnessPal.com, and trying to keep my mouth firmly shut in-between meals, drinking more water, making my eyeballs slosh. I really enjoy smiling at my scales, rather than it laughing at me.

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MaidLuxe, LLC

Other than trying to replenish supplies today, I’m continuing my efforts to really go through everything in my closet. I use my usual excuses to avoid the whole thing, and then I get up there, do a session, and feel like I’m making progress. Each day is a fight, but the Productive Side is doing its best to prevail.

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I hope you have a day full of sunshine and hope.

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Wednesday 1-15-2025

Brenda Beaudet-Trish Councell-Pinterest

Today is one week since we were snowed in. I’m hopeful that we will get enough melting on our driveway to be able to get down (and back up) safely. It would be nice if we could replenish a few supplies before the forecasters are saying we might get MORE snow! Oh, NOOOOO! Arkansas is supposed to have MILD winters!

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Make Expression Art Studio

Otherwise, things are good here. I’m having a lot of fun trying to wood burn an owl in my art room. There is a lot of detail and a lot of shading on this piece. I’m feeling quite challenged and am having fun trying to do the best I can on it.

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I’m NOW hoping that the ice maker tech will be able to get up our driveway by MONDAY now. In the meantime, the fridge we had in the garage died a cruel, quiet death, so we are dealing with that now. We bought a fridge years ago, powered by propane in the case of ‘world disruption,’ but has never been used. We fired it up last night and will see if it actually works. Fingers crossed.

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Lemon8

My closet is definitely shaping up now. I’ll put in another session today, trying to make sense of my jeans this time.

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Reddit

With all my efforts to exercise and lose the lard, my scales laughed out loud at me this morning, showing me I gained a pound. ARRRGH! Trying to keep my mouth shut today – except for talking with you, of course!

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Have a fun day.

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Tuesday 1-14-2025

Riekie – Stephanie Howard – Pinterest

Psychology Today

The picture above, with the road much more steep and the cars gone, looks much like our driveway.

Day 6 of being snowed in. We have really gotten spoiled, being able to leave the house when we want, schedule our day pretty much as we want. Our noses are now definitely “out-of-joint” that we can’t get out or back up our driveway safely yet.

Wilshire Refrigeration

We were scheduled to have an appliance tech come look at – and hopefully FIX – the ice maker in our kitchen fridge. I called this morning and he doesn’t have 4-wheel-drive, or snow tires, and we needed both yesterday and barely made it back up to the house. So now we have rescheduled his visit for the 20th, hoping that by THEN we have our regular steep driveway back…

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Sunshine House

I’ve started a new wood burned piece in my art room. I’m trying to do a close up of the face of an owl. It’s more complicated that my previous stuff, and I’m having a great time trying to get the tools to do what I would like.

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Lauren Emily Wiltse

I AM making progress in my closet. It’s a laborious thing, trying each thing on and deciding if it’s 1) too small, 2) too big, or 3) doesn’t look reasonable for some other reason, and then what to do about it. I WILL keep going until I have things under control in there. I prefer to do almost anything else, though. :0(

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Hope you are having a sunshine-y, pretty day and that you enjoy every minute.

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Monday 1-13-2025

Karin de Haas via Pinterest
PhotoDune

The Greenwood Schools are open today, which tells me that the rest of the town is definitely thawing out now. We are having some melting too, except our driveway still looks like a ski slope. It’ll be the last to melt.

We’re supposed to gather trash and drive it down to the bottom of our long, steep driveway. I’m going to gather it, but just just try to convince my husband that we should leave it in the garage this time, putting it out for pickup NEXT week.

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Our dog, Amber, has been busily shedding hair all over the place. My husband is taking a nap now, having slept badly last night, so I’m waiting to vacuum until he awakes. There are small tufts of Amber hair moving around over the tiled areas, trying to grab our legs as we walk…. :0)

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Sustainable Baddie

The “clean-out-my-clothes-closet” project is going slowly, but steadily. I rearranged my tops by color, and all my painted tees together, so I can see what I have more easily. Today I’ll try to get rid of more stuff.

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I hope that your day is going well, that you are safe and smiling.

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Sunday 1-12-2025

thriftyniftymommy.com-Pinterest

I’m feeling a bit ‘bleery’ this morning, trying to wake up. A happy thing is that it’s 33 degrees now, and we might get some melting of the snow today. Today is Day 4 of being stuck up here on top of our ridge line. I THINK we’re still sane. :0)

My husband got an email yesterday from the people from whom he ordered the computer, saying the Motherboard wouldn’t be delivered until Tuesday. That seems to have calmed him down – and certainly, me, too! Hopefully, by then, we might be in a much better situation here.

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I painted the covers of two journals in my art room yesterday. The front and back covers are painted the same. The inside is blank manila paper. They are a nice size for throwing in your purse or backpack. I’ll list them on my Etsy site today.

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Amber

I’ve been enjoying our pets’ reactions to the snow. Our yellow lab, Amber, is reveling in running through the snow like a mad thing, smiling from ear to ear. She only stays out for 5 minutes, though, at the most, wanting to come in, be dried off, and rest in her bed.

Jet – Monster Cat

Jet, aka Monster Cat, WANTS to be outside, but her mean Mama says she is an inside cat. She sits on the window sill in the dining area where she can look out onto our deck. She watched the snow fall past the window in great amazement last Thursday, and is reacting now to birds flying around, trying to grab some seed from the feeders.

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Lauren Emily Wiltse

I’m making slow progress on my “clean-out-my-clothes-closet” project. I’m planning to do a session up there today – I’m bouncing between blog posts, exercises, art room, and closet cleaning throughout the day, trying to maintain what might be left of my sanity. :0)

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GE Profile Refrigerator

I think I told you that the ice maker on our fridge stopped working. I made an appt for a tech to come, but then my husband started making unreasonable demands that the tech have everything that might possibly be needed to fix the problem with him when he came. I canceled the appt. My husband finally admitted defeat and the tech is scheduled to come Thursday – assuming he can get up the driveway by then. We’ve been using ice trays and putting them in the freezer of the pantry fridge. We are then transferring the cubes to a plastic bag and putting them in the bottom of the kitchen fridge. That’s a workable solution and I’m delighted. We may have to reschedule the tech, buy a new ice maker, and/or decide to keep going as we are after the tech finally comes and goes.

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My sister-in-law and I email every day to keep up with, and support each other, since we’re each married to a “Lewis man.” We were talking this morning about feeling guilty even talking about things in our lives when so many people across our country are in such dire straights. I think each of us can care deeply, will do whatever we can to help, and have our hearts reaching out to all of them, but we need to keep going, each in our own way, to maintain sanity.

I hope that each of you is well today.

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Saturday 1-11-2025

Today Show

18 degrees F. and 10+ inches of snow on the ground. I am having trouble appreciating this ‘winter wonderland.’ We are completely snowed in for the foreseeable future.

DepositPhotos

I’m worried my husband will get another email telling him that UPS left more packages at the bottom of our driveway, since I know he will insist on retrieving them. Since I don’t want to risk him or the truck, I will then go to Plan B – telling him I will take a trash bag and walk down, retrieving the mail and the packages and dragging the bag back up the hill. I am really hoping right now that the streets are bad enough that the delivery people will delay things…

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Yesterday I had a good inside day. I bounced between writing blog posts and doing my weights exercises, to spending time in my art room, to spending an hour continuing my clothes closet clean-out project, and back again. I also did some reading, listening to music, chair exercises, yoga stretches, and took time for a nap. A good day!

Here’s the latest tee I had to paint due to a stain that was darker and glared at me every time I looked at it. The stain is covered now and I’ll get a good amount of wear out of this tee now. :0)

I did this combination wood burned and painted cat yesterday, too. This photo doesn’t show that the kitty is really sparkly! I’ll list it for sale on Etsy today.

I also found some slim journals I had stashed in my art room and decided to paint two of them. I have the designs drawn and have started painting them.

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NPR

I feel so sorry for the people suffering and dying from the wildfires in California. I really cannot imagine losing everything you have like that, having been abandoned by your mortgage insurer, and probably losing the source of your employment as well, and trying to come back from that. Whole communities are gone, houses, schools, churches, shopping, everything. I don’t know how people can survive something like this.

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I hope you weather this day, facing whatever you are personally dealing with, bolstered by inner strength. May we help each other through these challenges the best way we can, and may things get better soon.

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Friday 1-10-2025

Charles Schultz-Peanuts-Lara R-Pinterest

Writing to you on my blog is one of my greatest joys. If I’m not writing a post to you, much of the day I’m trying to find wonderful things to share. I love the communication, the feedback, and the friends I make through doing this. Thank you very much for reading my posts, telling me you like things (or wish I would stop doing others) and staying with me. You are truly one of my blessings.

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We are well and truly snowed in now. It started around 11a.m. yesterday and is still snowing. This picture is of our deck, which is covered with a roof. We have about 6 inches on the ground now with more due before it stops. Adding insult to injury, the temps aren’t going to help much, merely making some liquid on top that will melt a bit, then refreeze over the coming days.

YouTube

Of COURSE my husband got an email yesterday, just after the snow started, saying part of the computer equipment he had ordered had been ‘delivered,’ (meaning left at the bottom of the driveway) and he INSISTED we go down and get it. We managed to get one large heavy box and two smaller ones into the back of the truck and were able to get back up the driveway to our house, but it was a close thing. I think if we had tried it a half hour later, we wouldn’t have been able to get back up. We agreed (I THINK) that we won’t go down the driveway for anything else until things are much safer. (I didn’t have to remind him that his insistence last year before it was ‘safe’ resulted in his broken collarbone and 10 weeks of recovery.)

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Southern Living-Getty Images

I did a first session of cleaning out my closet yesterday. I lasted a reasonable amount of time – for me, with my lack of patience for trying on clothes – and made some progress, bringing down a pretty large stack of things to be included in our next donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. I’ll do another session today.

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WikiHow

In my work in my closet, I found another tee that had a stain that didn’t come out in the laundry, so I’m painting it. I’ll share the results when it’s finished. It’s funny how my sad behavior of spilling food on plain tees results in fun painting sessions. :0)

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I hope that you’re well this morning and that your day is filled with light and laughter.

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Thursday 1-9-2025

Rain or Shine Mamma

Our snow hasn’t started yet, but some of my sources are saying it will within the next hour or so, and then will be continuous until mid day tomorrow. If they are correct, and the temperatures stay as cool as forecast, we will, indeed, be stuck up here on top of our ridge line until further notice.

I called our medical clinic when they opened this morning to find out if they WERE open and if the lab WAS working today before we scooted out to get the blood test someone forgot to get for my appointment yesterday. After I got the 2nd blood test, we topped off our gas tank and headed for home. We are up on top of our ridge line now we see what happens.

My husband is upset because he has ordered a new computer for me and the packages are due to arrive tomorrow – when no one will be able to get up or down our driveway safely. With my luck, my husband will get emails about packages being left at the bottom of our hill and he will INSIST that he and I try to go down and get them and then try to come back up…. Last time when the ice and snow had cleared all over town EXCEPT for our driveway, we went down, at his insistence, to get the mail. He got out of the truck, fell down, and broke his collarbone. It took him 10 weeks to recover.

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We really enjoyed our crockpot chicken, bacon and cheese dish by Kasey Trenum last night. My husband pronounced it, “YUMMY!” his highest praise these days, and even helped with storing the leftovers and the clean up! I’m giving myself a cooking break tonight, fixing us hot dogs, but tomorrow I’ll make Keto Chili by Suzanne Ryan, a real comfort dinner for sure.

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Ask a House Cleaner

I’m to the point where I NEED to start going through my closet to try to make sense of things. Since I am finally having better success at trying to lose my lard, some of my jeans are too big. Some of my tops are too large, as well. I’m going to start going through things to bag up a donation for Veterans Thrift Town in Fort Smith when the weather permits. This will be an ongoing project, because my tolerance for trying things on is quite low, but I’m determined to get the closet cleaned out and organized.

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Foundation.app

Mother Nature is sure in a snit lately, with the horrendous wildfires in California and then the snow and ice across so much of the rest of the country, with people still trying to recover from the awful flooding that occurred several months ago. So many challenges for good people from coast to coast. I hope Mother Nature gets her nose back in joint and things calm down soon.

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I wish you safety wherever you are today. May we all have the strength needed to deal with whatever life brings.

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Wednesday 1-8-2025

Lili-Pinterest

There is something about this wonderful painting that calms me and makes me smile at the same time. I just love it!

We leave after lunch for our doctor appointment and then will go to Walmart to get what we need to be as comfortable as possible for when we are snowed in for several days, beginning around noon tomorrow and continuing through afternoon on Friday, according to the latest forecast. UGH. I will be very happy if we are just stuck up here for a while. We had a bunch of trees cut down on both sides of our driveway, hoping to NOT have trees and big limbs coming down from both sides into the driveway. One famous ice storm it took us three days of chain sawing and dragging to clean the driveway enough to drive down to the road. Here’s hoping for just a bit of inconvenience this time.

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At my husband’s request, I’m starting a recipe in the slow cooker before we leave for the doctor. It’s called, “Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon and Cheese” by Kasey Trenum of KaseyTrenum.com. My husband absolutely loves this. I increase the recipe each time. :0)

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I think I have admitted that I’m a slob. Many times, though I try to be careful, I inadvertently spill something on the plain tee I’m wearing when I’m eating. Many times I am unable to remove the stain.

So my solution is to paint the tee to cover the stain so I can continue enjoying the tee. About half of my plain tees are now ‘painted’ with one design or another. I’m wearing one now that has a cotton-ball flower type design all over the front.

Yesterday I painted some white birds on my long-sleeved blue tee. Sigh.

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May you enjoy a happy day filled with smiles and laughter.

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Tuesday 1-7-2025

Karin de Haas – Funda Altincekic Aysel

As a lot of the U.S. is now, Arkansas is forecast to have what is for us, heavy snow and possibly ice, Thursday evening into Friday. Oh, joy. We will go to our doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon, and then stock up at Walmart and Harps on the way home. We’ll probably be snowed in long after the rest of Greenwood thaws and gets back to normal – one of the ‘perks’ of living up a steep driveway on top of a ridge line. I’m already wishing for spring!

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We are doing well, otherwise. My husband got a new suggestion from the tech he was working with about the computer program that was not opening. What she suggested this time worked, so all is good there now. HOORAY!

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Also, I received a notice from Microsoft that they won’t support Windows 10 after October. My ancient computer is not capable of using Windows 11. After some discussion of options, I’m getting a new computer! My husband will put it together, install Windows 11 on it and then we’ll transfer my stuff from my current one to the new. HOORAY – AGAIN.

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I just finished writing a letter to the Sebastian County Road Department in Greenwood, telling them how pleased we are with the work they did. I’m hoping the letter will help the men who did the work and the department as a whole.

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I hope the weather is good – or at least tolerable – where you are. Stay safe and warm.

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Monday, 1-6-2025

Freepik

I’m having a happy day so far.

We had to leave the house early without food or coffee to get blood work done for our routine doctor appointment on Wednesday. We did errands after that.

I think I told you about my husband being delighted about the county road people cleaning out our ditches. There were trucks at the bottom of our driveway as we left. I talked with one of the men, thanked him profusely for the good job the crew was doing. He said the ‘artist’ of the group was Darryl and that they might be here today and tomorrow to finish up.

We decided to get a gift card for a pizza for the men as a thank you, and got it while we were in town. I found Darryl when we got home and thanked him. Apparently the only time they hear from the public is when they are upset, so my thanking everyone was a real surprise and they seemed touched. I also gave Darryl the gift card. At first he refused, but I just stared at him until he took it. I’ll also write a letter to the department. I don’t know if they put the letters in the employee records or are just pleased, but I want to make sure they know what a good job they are doing.

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It didn’t snow or ice overnight, so we had no trouble getting around. We got our trash down to the bottom of the driveway and no one fell on their head or injured themselves. Now, hopefully, we can relax the rest of the day, though the weather forecast is warning of possible problems on Thursday now. UGH.

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My husband’s projects are beginning to wear me to a frazzle. First, lately, it was the porch camera light bulb. I finally officially gave up. I gave it at least twice as much time as my husband did and we finally decided we could do without it. Second, was the gadget for the TV. After two days of real challenge, frayed nerves, and more, we finally got it installed and working. NOW my husband is having trouble with a computer program called Family Tree Maker. We have used it for years, but suddenly it says it was shut down incorrectly and it won’t open. We were online with a tech all afternoon yesterday, trying to follow her directions. Nothing was solved. I don’t know if my husband will insist we tackle it again today or not. I am needed as the go-between to type, answer questions from either my husband or the tech, try to follow the directions, etc., so I can’t just escape, though it would be nice….

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I finished the etched vase I’ve been working on and just listed it on my Etsy site.

Our day has really flown by and I’m just now able to finish my first post of the day. I’d better get my computer hot! Have a great day!

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Sunday 1-5-2025

Dive Thru

I’m feeling really stupid because, in order to start my blog posts in the morning, I really have to check and make sure I have the date correct. One would THINK that I could switch my brain to register January 5, 2025 easily, just moving on without even having to think about it. Not so much. Sigh.

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Dogster

It’s warm here for January this morning (50 degrees F. right now) and a light rain is falling from very cloudy skies. The bad part is that a cold front is forecast to come through during the day, taking the temps down from here, and possibly bringing snow and ice. NOOOOO! We’re good to stay in today, but early tomorrow morning we need to go get blood work done for a routine doctor appointment Wednesday, and have a couple of other errands to do after. I hope we can get down our steep driveway, get our stuff done, and get back UP again. I really don’t enjoy having to worry about getting snowed or iced in and not being able to keep appointments.

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County Road Dept working

A happy thing happened yesterday! My husband drove down to get the mail and came up exclaiming, “The road department cleaned out the ditches on both sides of the driveway!” HOOORAAAAAY! I saw equipment in the area last month, and I called to see if they still cleaned out ditches. The nice lady said she would put in a work order, but nothing happened, and each time it rained, our ditches overflowed onto the road. To have it cleaned out and draining again is such a wonderful gift! While we’re out tomorrow, we’ll get a gift card from one of the pizza places and mail it to the road department as a small thank you.

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Raised Good

I’m having fun trying to etch the glass vase in my art room. I finished the basic free form floral design yesterday and will fix up edges and see if I can add more definition to the etching today. :0)

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I hope that your weather is either good or that you’re able to negotiate whatever Mother Nature is dishing out in the coming days. Stay safe.

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Saturday 1-4-2025

Katia M – @artcartbydiksha

I just love the artwork on this journal. The ‘light’ brings it from ‘good artwork’ to ‘wonderful!’ in my eyes. :0)

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LingoKids

I got to spend a bit of time in my art room yesterday, working on etching a glass vase I started a long time ago. I had done the outline of a floral design on the vase, but then got intimidated, so I put it aside while I concentrated on Christmas things. When I finally cleared off my drafting table,

I found the vase again and decided I would try to overcome my feelings of inadequacy and give it another shot. I actually had fun working on it yesterday. I have NO clue whether it will turn out anything like what I hoped for, but I have shed my ego and have just jumped into it, having fun and hoping for the best. I’m hoping to spend more time on it today.

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Horizon Education

We’re having a dreary-looking day here, but the temperature hasn’t dropped yet. It looks like the really cold weather is coming to us soon, and I’ll need to remember to open a few cabinets and drip water overnight in the next few nights. Did I tell you that I much prefer warmer weather?

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Cartoon Stock

My scales had to swallow a LITTLE bit of snark this morning. I will be happy if I can meet my interim goal of 50 pounds off in the near future. This morning I’m down 46.6.

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My husband is trying to add a gadget to our TV. After trying and failing to get it to work, he dumped the project on ME – his technically-challenged spouse. It was a challenging afternoon, but I got a couple of the issues solved by unplugging the new gadget. :0) He was talking about plugging it in again, though, today…..

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I wish you a wonderful day. I hope you do something fun today!

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Friday 1-3-2025

Mary-Lou Fricke-Neal – Pinterest

I don’t know if Mary Lou created this or pinned it on Pinterest because she loved it, too. Either way, I just loved it when I found it. Such gorgeous layers and 3-D-ness!

We’re going to shop for supplies after lunch today because the possibility of wintry precipitation is in the forecast. We live on top of a ridge line outside of town, up a 650′ plus steep driveway, so we take forecasts of possible ice and snow really seriously.

One year, I think it was 2000 or 2001, we had a really bad ice storm. Public water wasn’t available. Public power wasn’t, either. Our son was home then. We were stuck up here for 14 days. We could hear the loud cracking of our trees losing branches. It sounded like guns were being shot. We had MANY branches and whole trees that fell into the driveway from both sides, blocking us from getting out.

We have well water, so we were able to switch to that. We had a Chinese diesel generator in the well house. That was good and was enough for us to have some light, but no heat. We have a wood burning fireplace. We have propane for our stove.

Shortly after the storm, the generator blew its gasket. In order to keep it from overheating, my husband and son filled a large trash can with snow and dumped it on top of the generator every half hour.

It took us three days to chainsaw our way down the driveway to the road that runs in front of our house.

Ever since, we take prep for winter seriously. We now have a generator wired into the house. We stock up on food and water getting what is reasonable to keep us as comfortable as possible if we get iced in. Do you see why winter is not my favorite season? :0)

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Golden Road Arts

I never got up to my art room yesterday. I ended up finishing tax spreadsheets for the year. Hopefully, I’ll get some time this afternoon after we shop to try some glass etching. I’m trying to do my own floral design by hand with a Dremel.

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I hope that January is starting well for you and that 2025 is a terrific year for you and your family.

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Thursday 1-2-2025

Arindam Raha-Pexels

The sun is shining and it’s almost 9am here, but I’m still fighting the ‘sleepies.’ My coffee is helping, but I may need toothpicks to keep my eyes open. It’s just now getting to 32 degrees F. so my instinct is to go find someplace really warm, cover up my head, snuggle down and go back to sleep.

I’m leaving in just under half an hour to get my hair cut. My wonderful stylist, Michael Remillard of Tangles in Greenwood, understands that my hair is thin and fine and won’t do anything except stick up and look funny on it’s own – making me look like a dandelion gone to seed at the moment. He knows to cut my hair so that I can simply stick my head in the kitchen sink in the morning, wash it, and blow it dry and be fixed for the day, mostly looking as if ‘someone had a plan.’

Yesterday I finally spent time in my art room, starting with a bulldozer, trying to clean off my drafting table. It’s now ready for the next project, which at the moment is to work on a glass vase I started awhile back that has been waiting for me. I’m trying to etch some designs in it by hand. We have a glass blaster in our shop, and I’ve used it in the past to blast the glass after I mask the parts I want to stay clear, but this is more satisfying. I was dreaming about it last night, so maybe I can finish it this time.

Otherwise, we have a quiet day here, hopefully.

You might laugh or think it’s pathetic to have watched me try to type “2025” this morning. Enjoy your day. :0)

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New Year’s Day 2025!

Pinterest

I hope that 2025 is a fabulous year for you, full of all the good things there are.

We had a quiet celebration here. I was hoping our backyard neighbors might shoot off some fireworks, but it was too cold, even for them this year. I’m glad they stayed warm.

Brenda Beaudet – scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net

My to-do list is long today, but I’m still yawning and drinking coffee, trying to fully wake up. Our weather is definitely turning toward winter now, with freezing almost every morning and the ‘highs’ gradually getting lower each week. I really wish I could just LOOK at pretty snow pictures, photos of creative snow people and animals folks have made, watch videos of snowball fights, snow angels, and more – rather than to. actually. be. IN. it.

Deep Space Sparkle

My aim for the day is to clean off my drafting table in my art room in preparation for whatever comes next as a project. I almost need a bulldozer right now, but hope I can make good progress if I can just get up there.

CNN

I’m on strike as far as cooking today. We’ll have our regular low carb lunch and hot dogs for dinner. YEA!

Pixabay

Have a wonderful day. I hope that you’re off for the day from work and that you find fun ways to spend your day. Happy 2025!

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Sloth-ing

cuteness.com

If only I looked this criminally cute when I relaxed! The best I can do is burrow down into my recliner, my heat pad under me and my throw above me, making kind of a ‘Linda Sandwich.’ I try to do this a couple of times a week – a rare, but much appreciated pleasure!

In typical Arkansas fashion, we went from spring yesterday to winter this morning. The skies are really cloudy and grim-looking. The temperature isn’t that bad, but there is a strong wind that blows right through you. I had my coat, but I should have worn a cap and gloves. It feels COLD!!! Very thankful today for a warm, dry house.

I’m going to make one of our favorite recipes from Suzanne Ryan’s book, “Simply Keto,” called, “Sausage, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Bake”. We like it for dinner, and I throw in a veggie, like broccoli or spinach. It’s a nice comfort food for a cold night.

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I’m feeling really slothful this afternoon. I have a lot of things I could, or should, be doing, but I’m ignoring them, at least for now. It’s New Year’s Eve. I’m hoping to see fireworks in the valley behind our house tonight, ringing in a brand new year with bright colors, noise and happy displays, and hope.

Happy New Year’s Eve!

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New Year’s Eve 2024

Her Zindagl

Happy New Year’s Eve! Whether you have wonderful plans for a big party, a ball drop, fireworks, or will have a quiet celebration at home like us, I wish you a happy day of anticipation of a bright new year. The end of a year should bring shedding of old ‘baggage,’ a lightening of your load, a filling of your spirit. Enjoy remembering the good things about 2024 today, then wish it well and welcome 2025.

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Accountability – If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’m trying to lose my lard and get stronger and more flexible. I promised to report to you – as a way of trying to keep my goal active and hopefully reachable one day. As of today, I have lost 46 pounds and there are 48 fewer inches of me. I’m yo-yo-ing around in a 3-pound range these past few days, but I’m inching toward my interim goal and hope to meet it soon. The scales still smirk at me most days, but I will win.

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GeniCook

I told you my nice husband got us two rectangular stainless steel containers with glass lids recently. I always try to cook for more than one meal and we store the leftovers in individual portion containers in the freezer. These are large enough to hold TWO portions of the leftovers, so when I cooked recently, I put double portions into the two containers, snapped on the lids, and put them in the freezer. Yesterday I took one out and put it in the regular fridge. Last night I took the lid off, put the container in the microwave with a paper towel over it, closed the door, and held my breath. The food heated up just fine. No explosions or damage to the container or the microwave! I did use my hot pads to remove the container from the microwave. Last night the lid and the container went into the dishwasher. Sparkling clean and ready to use this morning! This is a really nice thing – to be able to use it so it saves us effort and time. I really didn’t believe what they advertised could be true, but I was wrong.

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This is my latest wood burned and hand-painted piece from the art room. I’m delighted to tell you he has been adopted! He will be mailed to his new home today. I couldn’t be happier. It was joyful to make him, and he will live on their front porch, hopefully bring good luck to his new owners for many many years. :0)

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We are running errands on this, the last day of 2024. When we get home, I’ll write more posts for the blog and may even get up to my art room this afternoon.

I wish you a happy day, full of fun, family, and celebration!

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Penultimate Day of 2024

pixabay

“Penultimate” means the last but one in a series of things. My husband really got my attention talking about the ‘prepenultimate’ something or other a while back, and today gives me a chance to USE a form of it. :0)

Why do I care? you ask. Well, to ME it means changing my wall calendars tomorrow and redoing my wipe-off kitchen calendar today in order to keep things flowing around here. Otherwise, you can chalk it up to “Linda being weird again….”

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Tenor

We’re supposed to have a really nice day today – quite spring-like, with temperatures this afternoon in the low to mid 60’s, and NO RAIN – actual sunshine! Woo HOOOO! It’s been a long time. I will make SURE I get outside to give my thanks today.

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I THINK my frog piece is finished. I’ll check it again and then will list it in my ETSY shop later today. It was a fun piece to work on. I’ll post a picture here tomorrow.

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2nd Nature By Hand – Etsy

I hope you will feel hope in the new year.

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Sunday, 12-29-2024

Freepik

For some reason I’m having trouble waking up this morning. I can’t use the rainy weather as an excuse, though, because we have finally gotten a reprieve. It’s cloudy, but it’s warm for December and it is NOT raining. HOORAY! I slept well, I think, so I’m hoping my trusty cup of coffee will do the trick. Can I blame my “sleepies” for any typos in this post?

Freepik

We’re about to put December to bed, as well as 2024. My hair hasn’t quit blowing as the time sprinted by all year. I only write a few actual checks these days, but when I do, I still have to THINK to write 2024. 2025 may be a problem…

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Pinterest

My husband is sleeping in this morning. He is having trouble sleeping at the ‘proper’ time lately. He either has trouble getting to sleep or wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t get BACK to sleep. He sleeps a lot in his chair during the day. Since we are retired, it makes no difference at all when he can get his rest, and for that we’re grateful. I just adjust what I’m doing to be quiet when he’s sleeping, wherever he is, happy that he’s getting the rest he needs.

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Generation Mindful

I’ve started a new piece in my art room. It’s a frog, and I’m having a great time with it. I’m working on the wood burning part now. I love it that I learn so much with each piece I try. I learn more about what I can do with the burning tips, a bit more on how to shade the drawings, have a slightly better ‘FEEL’ for what I’m trying to do. I just love it!

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103.9 – The Fish

I hope that you have something fun planned for the day, spending time with family or friends, doing something special that brings you joy.

Enjoy your Sunday!

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Saturday 12-28-2024

“Chillin'” – Willian Santos – Pexels

I’m having a quiet Saturday morning so far. My husband is sleeping in after not being able to sleep well last night. I hope he feels rested when he comes down the stairs.

As I was dressing, we had a truly glorious sunrise. Usually, either I’m not up yet to enjoy one, or it has been cloudy or dark until later and I miss it. It was so bright it caught my eye from the window!

It has turned quite cloudy since I’ve been at my computer, and I just saw that we’re supposed to get rain starting around 9 this morning and ending around 6 this evening. Sigh. It’s a bit weird having spring at the end of December.

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This is the wood-burned and painted cockatoo I finished yesterday. I’m going to take pics and list it on my HandmadeHavenbyLinda today.

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Having the luxury of staying inside when it’s rainy is one I don’t take lightly. I hope that your weather is good – or if it isn’t, that you’re able to avoid being out IN it. Enjoy your Saturday!

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Friday 12-27-2024

Karin de Haas – Funda Altincekic Aysel

Karin provides my role model. Her work shows women who take joy in the things around them, embracing their animals, not caring what people think, just enjoying every moment to the fullest. May we all know this joy.

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We’ll go grocery shopping today and get our mail. That’s our exciting list for ‘out’ today. :0) I’m hoping that the crowd at Walmart isn’t much bigger than normal.

Golden Road Arts

Otherwise, I’m hoping to finish the cockatoo wood burned and painted picture today in my art room. The jury is still out on whether it’s turned out okay or not. Fingers crossed.

Siesta Sleep

My husband was up super early this morning. When you get more ‘mature,’ it is accompanied, many times, by difficulty sleeping. He is having more trouble than I am with this, and ends up sleeping a lot in his recliner during the day. I don’t really care WHEN he gets the rest he needs – just that he GETS it. So, as I type, I can hear him snoring. Amber is in the living room keeping him company, while Monster Cat is in the office with me, asleep in the basket on the counter beside my monitors. We’ll do our errands when he awakes.

It’s warm for this time of year – 53 degrees F., very cloudy, and wet outside today. We were supposed to get thunderstorms yesterday, but just got a bit of rain, so I can’t really complain that it’s rainy again today. Hopefully, we can stay at least reasonably dry.

Tina’s Baked Goods – Facebook

The nicest thing happened yesterday afternoon. I was up in my art room and my husband came up with a paper plate covered by a paper towel and two forks. One of my dear friends baked a cheesecake and brought a couple of servings to us! She didn’t stay, so we dug in. Cheesecake is one of my favorites, but I only allowed myself two bites, giving the rest of my share to my husband, who happily devoured it with a grin on his face. It was YUMMY, and SO nice of our friend to think of us.

Pinterest

I’ve found a new yo-yo range on my weight. A 3-pound range that I’m determined will be a very short problem. Other than the cheesecake yesterday, I’m trying really hard to stay on my low-carb eating plan. I’m drinking a TON (more or less) of water, feeling as though my eyeballs are beginning to float. I HOPE that I can report some progress for the month at the end of this week. My mantra is, “SHUT MY MOUTH!”

Pixabay

I’m hoping that 2025 will be a good year for all of us. Maybe if we ‘hold-our-mouths-right’ we can MAKE it a good one. Are you with me?

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Thursday 12-26-2024

AnimalFunFacts.net

I hope your celebration left you satisfied, maybe a bit too full, with a huge grin on your face.

I’m still feeling SO happy that our son and I enjoyed our conference call yesterday morning. Really the best gift I could have gotten. I love his face. I’m still having happiness bubble up that he has several projects going that he is finding fun and challenging, things are going well, and his part of the world is relatively safe.

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Ranger Rick

Outside it’s dark and gloomy here, with thunderstorms on the way this afternoon. If we can do it without drowning, we’ll drive down to get our mail and drag our trash can up. If not, we’ll hope for better weather tomorrow.

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Port Discovery Children’s Museum

I got started on my new wood-burning project yesterday – a cockatoo. This will be a real challenge, as the bird is mostly white. It will be really difficult to give the bird definition. The main color will be the background, and I’m trying to keep that simple this time. I got the outline of the bird wood-burned yesterday. I’ll start the shading today. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. FUN project!

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We had a challenging afternoon, since my husband was determined to get Netflix to stream on our TV. He had done all kinds of things before he asked for my help. We spent much of the time undoing what he had done. We canceled the account he set up on the computer and signed up for another from the TV. We finally got things to work and he watched a movie yesterday afternoon-into-the-evening. WHEW!

NOW I’m trying to get him to really understand that this account is for STREAMING a movie right then, not taping for later. This will require a real change in his habits. I set him up with a pad of paper and a pen so he can write down what he wants to see and then access each when he’s ready to watch. We’ll see how this goes…

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Enjoy your Thursday, safe and warm and dry, if possible. :0)

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Other Thoughts on Christmas 2024

community.qvu.com

This is the wood-burned and painted piece I finished yesterday. I really enjoyed working on it, and already have another piece in mind to try. I listed it on my Etsy site last night.

We’re having a crock pot dinner tonight – not at all Christmas-like – a request from my husband for a chicken dinner he really liked the last time I cooked it.

My husband slept in this morning and our animals staged a protest, going up and down the stairs, meowing (in the case of Monster Cat, I think) and wagging her tail against the bedroom door (in the case of Amber) who sounds like the world may be coming to an end. It doesn’t seem to bother her to beat her tail against something with vigor. I would think it would hurt… Anyway, the message was delivered, my husband got up and came downstairs, and our Christmas Day was officially started.

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Christmas 2024

I wish you joy today and every day.
Freepik

We’re having a quiet Christmas, just my husband and I, this year. It’s warmer today, 49 degrees as I type this, but it’s still gray and gloomy-looking. A great day to stay in, relax in our recliners, maybe have a snooze. :0)

Our son and I had a conference call this morning, and it was the best gift ever. I love seeing him smile and laugh, catching up on what he’s doing, planning, and more. I got everything except one of his good, strong hugs. I’m still smiling.

One of the best Christmases ever when my brother and I were growing up was the one when my parents got each of us a 3-speed English racing bike. The controls were in the handles. One grip was the brakes. The other was the gear shift. They were light-weight, sleek, pretty, and fast. We were both in Heaven.

Back in 1492 when we were young (:0) we had freedom that kids can’t enjoy now. We lived in an area of Tulsa, OK where there were two parallel streets a mile long, called Johannson Acres. Each house was on an acre and a quarter lot. My friend was down the road from us, and I immediately leaped on my new bike and sped off to see my best friend, Ann Bulloch. I practically lived at her house. Her mom was the ‘perfect’ mom, always with a fresh batch of cookies, or offers to share a meal, spend the night, start a summer business in her yard, and more. They oohed an ahhed over my new transportation.

I loved the bike, racing all over the place in complete freedom. A wonderful memory of a very special Christmas for us.

Enjoy your celebrations today. Take time to give everyone a special hug. There is nothing more important than family. Merry Christmas, and may 2025 be a wonderful year for you.

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Christmas Eve 2024

Freepik

Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you are up to your ears in love and laughter today – Smiles and hugs – Food you might not be supposed to be eating delighting your mouth. Enjoy every minute of this day.

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Education Next

Here in Arkansas, I’m trying to wake up. It’s dark and rainy outside, which isn’t helping. I’m glugging coffee, and that should. It’s 48 degrees, so I don’t think we’re in for anything severe, just making it a really great day to crawl under my throw in my recliner and catch some z’s. My husband is sleeping in this morning and Amber and Monster Cat are going up and down the stairs, trying to make enough noise outside his door to wake him up. Even though all the morning chores are done and both have had breakfast, their day doesn’t officially start until he is up and functioning. :0)

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People.com

I saw two good friends yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t seen either of them in the longest time and it was truly wonderful to hug their necks and take a bit of time to catch up. Thankfully, both are doing well. They both seemed to like the personalized bookmarks I made for them. Friends are one of the true joys in life. You can never tell them how much they mean to you. Even though I can’t visit often, I’ve made a promise to myself that I will text them on a regular basis going forward. AND my husband was fine when I got home.

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Enjoy your day, cherish the memories you’re making. Make today super special.

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Monday 12-23-2024

Freepik

I’m hoping to be able to visit with a couple of friends quickly this afternoon and take them the presents I made for them, hug their necks tightly, and catch up. I don’t leave my husband for long these days, as he thinks he’s 20 and may end up on the roof… :0)

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I’m having a really good time in my art room. I’m trying to do a wood-burned and painted picture of a kingfisher. I still have no real clue what I’m doing, but it’s fun to try the different tips on my wood burning tools, experiment with shading, and more. Fingers crossed it turns out okay.

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Big Stock

Yesterday I cut down the remnants of my elephant ear plants.

They did really well this year, but Mother Nature thumbed her nose at them and froze them where they stood. I spent quite a while cutting down the sad, frozen remains and carting them off. I have tried digging up and storing the bulbs in the garage over the winter, but that was a disaster. So I put styrofoam faucet covers we didn’t need over the bulbs, then put rocks on top of those. Finally, I stuffed as many leaves as I could get into the planter, hoping that will get the sweet plants to survive the winter and grow again in the spring. All appendages are crossed – including my eyes – that this works.

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Freepik

One of the many things for which I am thankful this year is that I can write this blog, communicating with wonderful people, sharing things I hope you’ll like, hoping to make you snort, smirk, or smile from time to time. Thank you for reading, liking, commenting, and becoming friends.

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Make this a great day. If you’ve already celebrated, pat yourself on the head for a job well done. If you’re dashing around like a fiend desperately trying to cram in as much stuff as you can in the remaining time, BREATHE. The celebration is about enjoying those you love, remembering what is important, cherishing life and all you have.

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Sunday 12-22-2025

Freepik
Cole’s Wild Bird Products – (the one in our house wasn’t a hummingbird, but this gives you a bit of a mental picture.)

We just had to chase a bird out of the house (after grabbing Monster Cat and putting her into the bathroom and putting Amber behind the gate to the living room.) It took us quite a while, with lots of hand-waving and towels, and fly swatters, going from the pantry to the kitchen, to the dining area, and the utility room over and over, but we did it. I’m still huffing and puffing a bit. The bird is fine, and is back outside. WE are both intact and unhurt. Monster Cat and Amber are with us again, and all hopefully will calm down. NOT a great way to start a morning!

Jet – aka “Monster Cat”

Monster Cat has decided to take advantage of the morning’s excitement, now hiding-in-wait for me to walk past, and then leaping out and wrapping her arms, claws out, around my leg. It’s a very good thing I’m wearing jeans…

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It never did warm up much yesterday, but it’s supposed to get into the low 50’s today. Hooray! I’ll plan to get outside, cut down and mulch a few things in the yard, and try again to get the light bulb camera on the front porch to work.

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I started a new piece in my art room yesterday. This time I’m trying to wood burn a kingfisher. It’s a wonderful escape to go up there, turn on some of my favorite music, and lose myself in the joy of trying to use the wood-burning tool. I got the design onto the wood yesterday. Now I’m doing the wood burning, and then I’ll paint. Such a fun time!

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Advent Health

I hope you have a list of things you can do to bring yourself joy. I’m lucky because I have a whole host of things that allow me to ‘escape’ from the present world and fully relax for a bit.

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I hope your Christmas plans are shaping up. Don’t be afraid to ask those around you for help. This is a family time. Responsibility should be shared as much as possible, from the planning, the decorating, the wrapping of gifts, the shopping for food, the cooking, and the clean up. When you share the work, the joy explodes. BREATHE.

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