Pinterest – artist not provided
Pinterest – artist not provided
Violet Galaxy
Beautiful Photography
Jeff’s Wildlife Photography – @Sykesjeff on Twitter
Jeff’s Wildlife Photography – @Sykesjeff on Twitter
Mark Gray – @GrayMarker99 on Twitter
Mark Smith Photography – @marktakesphoto on Twitter
Thursday Thoughts 7-6-23
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WEATHER
It’s 77 degrees F., dark and rainy here right now. We have the doors open to welcome the cool breezes. We’re not supposed to be threatened by flying hair balls, so we can simply relax and enjoy the rain. AHHHHHH :0)
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LOOK WHAT I DID!
Painted Container with Lid – Hand-Painted, One of a Kind – Glass – “Stained Glass” – $41.99 with FREE SHIPPING in the contiguous U.S. – lindawlewis1@gmail.com for more information. HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy.
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ART ROOM
Pixabay
I’m starting to dream about the Christmas presents I want to make for my friends this year. I’m thinking of etching some glassware with initials plus some other decorative stencils with some free-form dremel additions in-between. I have no idea, really, how to do this, but I’m having a great time in my dreams… :0)
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Yesterday’s harvest
My main spring garden was a complete bust this year due to the wonky weather. The spinach turned yellow and the lettuce started bolting way too soon. I’ll get that cleared out in time. Meanwhile, the tomatoes are doing well.
I hope you’re enjoying your Thursday.
HandmadeHavenByLinda 7-5-2023
Memory Box – Hand-Painted – “Daisies”
A box to store memories, photos, souvenirs, and other important things can also be pretty – a delight to the eye. This memory box is hexagonal in shape, 7 inches wide, 4 inches tall. The box is heavy cardboard and hand painted inside and out with yellow, white, green and gold. Silk daisies decorate the lid for a happy, spring/summer look. Varnished for extra protection and durability.
This is fun for your own important treasures, and is a thoughtful gift for a good friend or co-worker for birthday, wedding, housewarming, or any time. Happy, colorful, and one-of-a-kind. $26.95 with FREE SHIPPING to contiguous U.S.
Link to this on Etsy – If you prefer to buy these or other products directly from me, please contact me directly at lindawlewis1@gmail.com and we’ll discuss details.
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy
Imagination Needed
I have spent three days off and on trying to get a good picture of a sweet little bird who sits on a feeder in our dining area window and talks and pecks at the ‘bird-in-the-window.’ If you look carefully at the pic above, you can catch a glimpse of him just below the butterfly.
Here he is, right before he flies away. I sat and sat, camera at the ready, trying to get a close-up, but he catches the movement on the other side of the glass and flits away. You can see him a little better in this pic, just to the right of the butterfly.
Here is the final pic that shows him either before or after he pecks the window. I hear him when I’m reading in the living room. When I try to sneak into the dining area, he’s gone. (Below and to the right of the butterfly this time.)
I’m thinking I’ll take the butterfly down for the day and see if I can luck out. I don’t know what kind of bird he is, but he’s lonely and thinks the bird in the window is really good-looking. :0)
Filed under Amazing Animals
Style?
Today’s project will be a more thorough cleaning of the kitchen and dining areas.
We recently finished changing out the fluorescent tubes in the kitchen and pantry for LED tubes, requiring my husband to figure out how to remove the ballast transformers, bypass that system and rewire each fixture to accept the new tubes. I was the stalwart dogsbody, schlupping around finding tools, figuring out what he would need next and handing him stuff, receiving things and putting them ‘somewhere’ quickly, and most importantly, making him rest a bit and rehydrate and eat on some sort of regular basis. We changed out 1 two-tube fixture in the pantry and 3 four-tube fixtures in the kitchen. It took us two long days. There was a LOT of cleanup after this.
I do the ‘normal’ pickup, dishwasher, wipe-down, vacuuming stuff on a regular basis, but basically ignore a lot until I CAN’T anymore.
Speech Righter
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Today is the day I heal the area, or at least get a good start on it.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
HandmadeHavenByLinda – 7/4/23
Totebag – “Earth Love” Extra-Large, Hand-Painted, One-of-a-Kind
17.5″ x 11 (not counting the handle) extra-large beige tote hand-painted on both sides with Earth Love quotes, hearts, and leaves. “Take Nothing But Pictures,” “Leave Nothing But Footprints,” “Kill Nothing But Time.”
Great tote for for carrying picnic supplies, supplies for the beach, vacation, and more. Great for a hobby bag, gym bag, shopping bag or grocery tote. The bag has a nice gusset in the bottom adding extra capacity. The paint is protected with polyurethane spray. Hand wash and dry flat. $19.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S.
Link to this on Etsy – If you prefer to buy these or other products directly from me, please contact me directly at lindawlewis1@gmail.com and we’ll discuss details.
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy
Rosa Andreeva Embroidery
I find a lot of artists who can make beautiful embroidery. Rosa Andreeva, though, takes it to another level. I don’t know if she uses all different colors of cloth stretched on a frame as a background, or paints the background, but I love that each is different. Her embroidery is like a painting, and I love the different levels of 3-dimensional accents so one stands out from the rest. I really like the attention she pays to the background, bringing it into the embroidery with beads, and flower petals, flowing around the main design. Just extraordinary.
Dog Drawings
@Davidjsalter on Twitter
@Davidjsalter on Twitter
Pinterest – sorry, author not provided
Filed under David Salter, drawings
My Book
Out to Lunch – flickr.com
sent to me by my friend, Carol
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Reading is FUNdamental, Word Play
7-4-2023
Woman’s Day
Happy Independence Day!
This version of Lee Greenwood‘s “God Bless the USA” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Lee is featured, and he sings with Home Free, the acapella group, plus the US Air Force Band, and Singing Sergeants. It fills my heart right up to the top every time I hear it.
We plan a quiet day here. I’m hoping that our neighbors down in the valley behind us will set off fireworks tonight. I enjoy getting something cold to drink and sitting out on our back porch to watch and appreciate.
Greenwood, Arkansas
Our only chore on this holiday is gathering our trash and driving it down to the bottom of the driveway for pickup tomorrow. I was good yesterday, paying bills, reconciling checkbook balances, catching up bookkeeping on my online spreadsheets and filing. I may actually make it up to my art room today!
I hope you are sharing the day with ones you love and smiling ear to ear.
Filed under holidays
HandmadeHavenByLinda – 7/3/23
Note Cards – “Purple Glory” – Package of 5 Different One-of-a-Kind Hand-Painted Note Cards with Envelopes
Package of 5 different abstractly hand-painted note cards in glorious colors (purple, rose, white, green and black with web spray for added texture) plus envelopes. This is a one-of-a-kind set. Each note card is blank on the inside for your message. The cards measure 4-1/4″ x 6″. Exploding with color, these note cards are fun to use at home or at your office, and even more fun when people remark on them or ask you where you got them! $19.95 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S.
Link to these on Etsy – If you prefer to buy these or other products directly from me, please contact me directly at lindawlewis1@gmail.com and we’ll discuss details.
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Lewis Art
Learning and Decisions
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I tried a website new to me called, Klinio.com, recently, hoping to get a better handle on cooking for my husband, who is a Type II diabetic (although he denies this, saying he ‘has a sugar problem’). I was looking for a lot of good information, lists of what TO and to NOT eat, possible meal ideas, a place to record meals and see how we were doing as to calories, sugar, salt, carbs, etc., log exercises, research and be able to find answers to questions reasonably quickly, etc. I was looking for an all-in-one, “go-to” site.
I read their information and decided the monthly fee to join was too high. Someone got back to me and offered me a much better price, so I decided I would try it for 6 months. I filled out all the information to join, a little frustrated that it would be for me, alone, but figured I could use the information I got to apply to both of us.
Long story short, I cancelled my subscription today. They don’t give refunds, but did tell me that although my subscription was canceled and I wouldn’t be charged anything more, my subscription would be honored for the full 6 months.
They asked for reasons why I canceled. I gave them several, but then the ‘cancel my subscription’ button wouldn’t work. I then got on my phone and reached a person on chat. He asked me why I was canceling, and I said I had filled that out online, but that the website wouldn’t accept it, and would he please just cancel it. He did, very promptly and courteously and agreed to send me an email confirming that. He did, so I’m pleased at that part of the service.
I’m glad that this website exists. It is probably good for a lot of people. They offer lots of meal ideas and offer the option of printing grocery lists. They give suggestions for exercises, and there are some good articles on the site. If you’re looking for something like this, I suggest you check it out.
Filed under DIET!
Exquisite Embroidery
Anna Cmnt Pinterest
Annemieke Mein-tinyredart.blogspot.com.au
beautifulbizarre.net
Pinterest – sorry, artist not provided
Filed under Embroidery/Sewing Art
Monday, July 3, 2023
GIFTS
My husband got this for me. It’s about the size of a business card, made of metal. I stuck it in the bottom edge of my computer screen so I can see it every day.
Sorry for the fuzziness of the photo. It says,
“If I could give you one gift, it would be the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Only then would you realize how truly special you are. You light up my life with your every word, smile, and laugh. You are the best thing to ever happen to me and I love you more than words can express, forever and always.”
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And this is mine to him –
And the very best thing is these are given as a “just because.”
Filed under love
Did It!
We have the first floor now almost completely converted from the old-style fluorescent fixtures, ballast transformers and tubes to the new-style LED tubes. We put fluorescents everywhere when we built because we liked the fact that they last a long time and give a really good amount of light.
We just learned that the tubes we have been using will no longer be made starting this August (!) so we really had no choice. My husband ordered a box of LED lights (count of 30). He got antsy waiting for the delivery, so he went to our local Yeager’s and bought the 6 tubes they had that were the color we had ordered online. We laboriously put the six in and then the box of 30 more arrived.
We have now finished the kitchen (above). Last night my husband sneaked in and converted the one in the pantry. (He said the last two tubes were “calling to him.”)
The only fixture left to be converted on the first floor now is the back bathroom, beyond the utility room.
Yesterday we spent all day converting these three fixtures in our office. We worked well together. In fact, my husband complimented me on what a good job I did helping him, anticipating which tool he would need when, etc., plus “helping him stay calm.” He cooperated with my insisting we take breaks, hydrate, eat lunch, etc. and this, I think, helped both of us a lot.
I’ve been having to flip the switch in the office 5 or 6 times each morning in an effort to get all three fixtures lit at the same time. Now, one flip and the room is ablaze in light! I keep finding myself expecting a light to suddenly go off. :0)
The tubes are expensive, but the regular fluorescents weren’t cheap, either. They are supposed to last 50,000 hours. They use less energy. They allowed us to get rid of the ballast transformers which were failing. Even though the conversion is a lot of work, these tubes may last longer than we do. :0)
We have another box ordered, but we have agreed (at least right now) to replace the upstairs tubes as they fail, rather than continue the race we’ve been on lately. Having been married to this man 54 years now, I know that this agreement will probably last until the delivery of the box of tubes, but at least I’ll get a break until the 20th, when the delivery is estimated.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Lewis projects
Before the Project Starts
Antony Sider-@BudgetDude on Twitter
TAKING CHARGE
I decided, after writing my first post today, that I would change things up. My husband is taking a nap, so I decided –
- The weeding will definitely wait until tomorrow
- That I would use the time he is sleeping to my advantage
- I hate to cook when I’m tired and stressed, so I have just finished getting the ingredients for a beef stew in the crock pot. It will be ready when we are tonight with no more work on my part :0)
- I did a lot of my daily computer stuff, so I’m not now feeling stressed that things are waiting on me.
- I have cleared things off my beside-the-computer-table so I won’t have to clear work debris off them, plus my husband can actually put a foot on the table if needed to balance while he’s working without messing any of my things up. I also cleaned off my desk for the same reason, clearing breakables out of the way.
I may be losing the day for my own projects, but I’m feeling a bit more in charge of what we WILL be doing, my part in it, and have made the rest of the day more pleasant for both of us.
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LOOK WHAT I DID!
2″ Hand-painted, light-weight, one-of-a-kind orange multi-color teardrop-shaped wooden dangle earrings. Painted plain orange on the back. Get ready for someone to remark about them or ask where they can get a pair. Answer: they can’t! These are only for YOU. They will need to come look for a different pair. French ear wire with soft marshmallow cushion backs. $13.95 with FREE SHIPPING in the contiguous U.S.
Erica commented on pair she purchased – “Earrings are so lightweight and super cute. They went perfectly with blue outfit for work and really enhanced the look. I got compliments on them too!”
Link to these on Etsy – If you prefer to buy these or other products directly from me, please contact me directly at lindawlewis1@gmail.com and we’ll discuss details.
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Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Aggravation
I was planning to try to get the brick ‘niche’ planter weeded today. It will take several sessions, particularly in the heat.
My husband is on a tear to replace our regular fluorescent tubes with LED tubes. This requires us to bypass – or, better, REMOVE – the current ballast transformers in each of our fixtures, rewire, put things back together, THEN put in the LED tubes. He is quite good at this stuff, but is a challenge to work with, to say the least. I’ve had plenty of practice helping him over the years but it is still a character-building exercise to be his helper. The character-building part of this grows exponentially as we age.
One thing is that he knows everything – much better than the experts. The experts say, turn the power off and/or turn off the fuse before doing this. The experts say, make sure the ladder’s stabilizing bars between the legs of the ladder are horizontal for stability. My husband not only ignores these instructions, but scoffs. It certainly increases the stress level of his ‘helper,’ and he scoffs at that, as well, saying I’m ‘over-reacting.’
So, he wants to replace the tubes in our office today. We have two 4-tube fixtures and one 2-tube fixture. Yesterday we had one 4-tube fixture and we spent the entire morning on it. (The kitchen is now fully converted and the light in there is amazing, I have to say, but at this particularly moment, I’m not sure it’s worth it.)
There is no way I can do several sessions out in the hot PLUS help my husband with the lights, so I will hope that we can finish with this project today and that I will be ‘free’ to weed tomorrow. I may, or may not, be able to get back to my computer today. I hope that your Sunday is a good one.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Question
I would like your opinion on something, please. My friend, Marsha, suggested that I show more of what I’m listing for sale on HandmadeHavenbyLinda, my Etsy site, on this blog on a regular basis. I would really like to know what you think. Would you rather I didn’t do that? Would you find it irritating?
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Fascinating Driftwood Art
Jeffro Uitto – Steve Pseno
Sugar Plum Foal by Heather Jansch
Tony Fredriksson – Open Sky Wood Art
Vivax Oliva Woodworking
Filed under Driftwood Art, When Wood Comes Alive
Heat Indices
5News
The local TV station says heat index ‘up to 108’ in my area. My computer heat thingie says “110”. (You say tomaaato and I say tomahhhto…. ) At least we’re agreed that it’s TOOOOOOOOO HOT!
Kay and Bud were at Lunch Bunch. We went to the local grocery afterwards to get some stuff. Even with the truck A/C on, we were hot. By the time we unloaded the truck, we were both wilting. We got a cold drink when we finished putting things away.
Needless to say, I’m NOT working outside now. I’ll check to see how things feel at around 5 this afternoon (though the heat warning is active until 9pm), plus whether the planter I want to weed is in the direct sun or not, and then decide. We don’t have anything scheduled tomorrow, so maybe I’ll just wait until tomorrow morning.
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I would like your opinion on something, please. My friend, Marsha, suggested that I show more of what I’m listing for sale on HandmadeHavenbyLinda, my Etsy site, on this blog on a regular basis. I would really like to know what you think. Would you rather I didn’t do that? Would you find it irritating?
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Guess what! In the category of ‘adding insult to injury‘, the Dyson people said on their website that they are no longer making the battery-powered vacuum I have and are not offering parts for it. We got a battery that was supposed to be compatible with it a couple of weeks ago. It won’t charge and make the vacuum usable, so we went to the Dyson site. NOW we’ve ordered another one that is supposed to be compatible that has more power. If that doesn’t work, we’ll either have to buy another vacuum or I’ll just use my regular vacuum.
Please try to stay cool and hydrated.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
It’s Friday – So, Lunch Bunch
IceGif.com
It’s Friday, so that means Lunch Bunch.
A priceless time for me. We’ve been doing this for over 20 years now, meeting every Friday possible to share lunch, good news, bad news, laughs and hugs.
It started when I decided to go to City Council meetings in Greenwood to find out what was going on in the town, taking an interest and seeing if I could participate. Linda was the City Clerk/Treasurer. Kay was in the audience, too, each month, and we started sitting together and getting to know each other. This went on for several years before we went to lunch together a few rare times.
When Linda retired, we decided we wanted to continue and build on our friendship. The Pizza Barn was central to all of us, so we met there and went through the buffet. The pandemic and new rules forced the owner to stop the buffet, but we continued to meet there, ordering from the nice menu. The friendship grew. Others joined us, but none permanently. The core is Kay, Linda and me.
The years passed. My husband finally joined us and has become an accepted member of Lunch Bunch. Kay’s husband is in his 80’s, but still works heavy equipment from time to time. He is also now a valued member of the group. Linda’s daughter, Patty, comes when she can, and is a delight. Other people are always welcome, but the core is the thing.
A lot happens in 20 years. When you share that – even basically only seeing each other on Fridays – the bond becomes a pillar of your life. Friendship and sharing, loving and caring. I am lucky.
Filed under Friendship
Spirit-Lifting Watercolor
YouTube.com
FulcrumGallery.com
Glenn Plum
Pinterest – unknown artist
Filed under Watercolors I Love
2nd Tomato Harvest 6-29-2023
Larger ones
Cherry tomato size and a bit larger
Whole harvest with more to come!
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
The Great HOT Outdoors
We have three brick planters end to end between our front lawn and the driveway area. These are the 3 I’ve been trying to weed and get Bermuda grass out of.
My husband wrote them off, saying they were too far gone and that we’d just have to burn it all to get the Bermuda out.
I’m STILL saying, “Let’s talk about the planters” today, in celebration of how pleased he was that I managed to get things under good control.
Here’s another view of the planters from one end to the other.
And HERE is a happy surprise. I gave up on the elephant ears, thinking that they hadn’t made it through the winter. (Another planter to add to the weeding list)
Filed under Gardening
Thursday 6-29-2023
Forwarded by a friend.
I’m having a grumpy day. I’m still feeling the stress about spending the whole day yesterday doing really laborious and possibly dangerous stuff, not finishing until well after dinner.
I’m delighted that the used air pump we got for the bed seems to be working and the mattress held the air pressure last night. In fact, the mattress was a bit TOO firm. :0) I’ll adjust that tonight.
LightUp.com
We changed out the tubes in one 4′, 4-tube fluorescent light fixture in the kitchen, taking out the old T12 (I think) tubes and putting in the new LED T8 tubes. We finally got it accomplished, but it took all afternoon.
When we were both tired, my husband decided he wanted to put the big thermostat in the master bath window. I got in there to find he had torn a hole in the screen trying to do it and was busily trying to make another one. A ‘discussion’ ensued and I finally got the thermostat. I stood on the whirlpool tub and shut the top part of the window that shouldn’t have been opened at all. I opened the bottom part and slid the thermostat in where it belonged. My husband realized this morning what he did, so now the replacement of the screen is on our ever-growing list.
The replacement battery for my Dyson isn’t working. It ISN’T a ‘Dyson’ battery, but that shouldn’t be a problem. My husband is looking into the problem, seeing if there is another, more powerful one we can try. Apparently, he didn’t look at the actual Dyson replacement batteries, to see if they are affordable, so hopefully, he’ll do that today. He is also working on trying to get the old air pump for the bed to work. If he can do that, we’ll have a backup.
5News
My sweet cousin/friend Murray has just moved to Fayetteville AR and is in the 105-109 degree part of this. Welcome to AR, Sweet Murray!
We are in the 105-115 degree part of this in Greenwood, just southeast of Fort Smith. I think we have at least one more day of this ‘intense heat warning’ before we move to ‘just-plain-too-hot’.
If you’re in the super hot warning areas, please be safe.
Filed under Challenges
Grrrrrrr
Clipart Library
I may very well be bald as an egg by the end of the day. My husband is on a tear and it’s impossible to stop him without completely decking him – though I’m thinking about that as I type.
We got the new/used air pump we bought on eBay today. My husband disappeared, when I thought he was in his chair reading, and took the old one out, put the new one in, and it WORKS! We just now went up with soapy water to see if we could find any leaks in the mattress. We didn’t, after extensive testing, so we’re suspecting that the leak came from the connections to the failing air pump. We are now letting the mattress dry before we try to put the bed together again, put on fresh sheets, etc.
I have the washer going to wash the mattress pad and then the sheets we took off, or I DID. My husband came in and announced, “The washer isn’t working.” Since it was when I left it, I got up and checked. ‘SOMEONE’ had pushed buttons – putting it in a waiting state. When I asked him, he said, “Well, it wasn’t working, so I pushed some buttons.” I got it going again.
Then I saw the stair lights were on and figured out he was upstairs again. I went up to find him with one of the new LED tubes in his hand, looking around. I finally found out he was looking for his glasses. I pointed to his shirt, where they were hanging on his front. He had the good grace to look sheepish, but I asked him why he was up there with the tube. He then said he was going to put in one of the new tubes in the kitchen.
We had a ‘discussion’ at this point, since he told me earlier that we were only going to tackle one of the project things today and were already in the middle of the bed project. He said, “Well, that’s drying and we can see if this tube stuff is going to work. I objected, since I am usually there to receive the old tubes and hand him the new. AND this will be a matter of taking the ballast transformer out, rewiring, and THEN putting new tubes in. I told him I really didn’t want to get into that today.
He said, “That’s fine. I can do it myself.” After growling to myself (I think) I mentioned that if he was going to do this, he should do it in the utility room where the only ceiling light we had only had one dim tube working.
I’m giving myself a chance to cool down mentally a bit and then I’ll go check on him. It used to be that we could do our separate projects, if needed, without even thinking about it. This is no longer the case and I find I may need to check on eBay to see if they have any used brains with an extra supply of patience for sale.
Filed under aging, Challenges
creativeartworksblog 