InShOt
“Owl,” said Rabbit shortly, “you and I have brains. The others have fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest–and when I say thinking I mean thinking–you and I must do it.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
Lucy Williams – Pinterest
“Through the darkness, the call of the owl invites us to reflect, to meditate, in that suspended moment where time seems to stop.”
― David Passarelli, Mountain poems: Musings on stone, forest, and snow
Mark D. Alexander – @mad7500.bsky.social
“An owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees the less it talks.”
– Christie Watson
Filed under Amazing Animals
This is my new jigsaw puzzle. I’ve been working on it about a week. I only have the outside edge and some various small groupings done. I just love this picture. I would like to GO here, sit by the water and simply soak up the ‘calm.’
These are my two newest sketches/paintings.
Today I’m going to do a good, longer session of yoga stretches than I normally do. I feel kind of ‘compressed’ for some reason, so this will help bring me back to normal. I haven’t decided if I’ll do my water-bottle-weights exercises or simply dance to some bouncy music yet in addition.
We’re having a beautiful day here, full of bright sunshine, with thunderstorms hopefully holding off until around 5pm if my phone app is correct. That would be lovely.
I watched one of my all time favorite movies yesterday afternoon – “Patch Adams.” I hadn’t seen it in years. I love Robin Williams and am still sad he’s gone. It’s the sadder parts of movies he’s been in that really get to me. It seems he had such a giant heart.
I hope you, also, have several things that you can do to regroup and relax. Things that bring a big smile to your face and fills your heart with hope.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Alina Hagen – @alinagrafik.bsky.social
@wynterrayven.bsky.social
Meandering M – @pathwaymoments.bsky.social
@universalgratitude.bsky.social
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
Phyllis Harris – @phyllisharris on x
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“hope” – a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
–Emily Dickinson
Yesterday was a sad day for me, having to face reality that my husband could stop breathing at any time and relay the decision to honor his wishes that he not be resuscitated if he stops breathing again at the nursing home.
I did some thinking when we got home and decided that I can do one of two things:
Accept “reality” and mope around, concentrating on ME and what I’m going to lose, losing the joy – OR accept ‘reality’ – keeping hope alive, concentrating on the positive.
I’ve been given a second chance at life. None of us comes out of it alive. We don’t even know where, when, or how it will end. Harvey and Brian came very close to losing ME in February. Only the fact that I was in the hospital for the flu and low blood oxygen saved me.
Harvey and I fell in love when I was 14 and he was 17. We dated for 9 years while he was in the Marine Corps and I was going to various schools. We married in 1969, had two beautiful children, and have spent over 56 years together as a family.
Now he is in a nursing home. I still see him 3 times a week, hoping that he will still recognize us, be happy to see us, and may be able to communicate a bit before we have to leave. He is on a new medicine that MAY help his mood and alertness. We won’t know if it’s effective for a while.
I can’t live without hope. It’s ironic that with the orders I had to give the nursing home yesterday, there is the chance that “I” will die before he does! It’s all a beautiful crap shoot – full of opportunity, sights and sounds, wonderful people, things to learn, things to enjoy.
“Hope is sweet-minded and sweet-eyed. It draws pictures; it weaves fancies; it fills the future with delight.”
–Henry Ward Beecher
As Phyllis Harris showed us in her beautiful drawing, “hope” is fragile, should be cherished and shared freely.
Filed under Family
I rescued my recently hung laundry because a rain came just after I finished that and before I sat down at my computer. I dragged my rack inside and put a sheet under it to keep any drips from the floor.
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As I sat at the computer, a small black bird was trying his very best to land on my window sill. I have a very narrow sill, so he couldn’t sit there. He tried over and over, the feathers on his head lifting in the wind so it looked like he had a crest. I tried to look up what kind of bird he was, but couldn’t find him among the common small black birds in Chiang Mai.
Before he was finished, another black bird came and they started fighting mid-air, like hummingbirds do. And then – I couldn’t believe it – a THIRD joined the fight. There was squawking, wings flapping, beaks open – all right outside my right corner window. Since none of them could get any traction on my sill, they finally left to fight elsewhere – or go have a drink… 😋
And NOW, of course, the rains have stopped for the moment, and the sun is out. There are thunderstorms forecast for right now, according to the app on my phone, so I’ll at least wait a while before dragging the drying rack back out…
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These are the latest sketches/paintings I’ve done in my little alcove.
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My phone alarm just went off, reminding me that I need to go get my duvet from the laundry. I can’t do this by myself, as it’s too large, so I’m glad I can get help from time to time.
Have a joy-filled day. 🤗
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Ruth Irving
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We went to visit my husband today.
One of the managers stopped us as we went into the nursing home, telling us that Harvey quit breathing during the night. He started again, but she wanted to know what we wanted them to do if it happens again. My husband and I have agreed that when our time comes we don’t want to be resuscitated, no heroic stuff, just let us go. Telling them that today, though, really upset me. Deciding what you want or don’t want in THEORY is very different than doing it for real.
My reasons for not wanting to say it, though, are very selfish. I simply don’t want to face it. I don’t want him to go. See all the “I’s” in these statements? When I force myself to think of HIM and what HE wants, the decision is much more straightforward.
He made little sense today, talking about atomic bombs on funeral pyres, but at one short point he DID say to Brian, “If someone tries to bully you or make fun of you, you tell them you have a dad who loves you, and to pound sand.” He also said, “One of the best things of my life is to have you call me Dad.”
Filed under Family
These drawings are by Phyllis Harris. I can’t say enough about her work. Her picture book, CLAUDE, is officially available for pre-order at these links:
You can find her on X here.
Phyllis Harris. – @PhyllisHarris
Filed under drawings
These photos are all the work of Zandra.Bluesky 420 buddy – @zandra-b.bsky.social
I just love her work. I absolutely love the first photo. This bird has attitude, and I grinned when I saw him.
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
I’m going to see if I can draw and paint this, just for giggles. I took the owls puzzle apart this morning. It is now neatly in a gallon baggie with the picture. I’m going to put it in the area where – if you want it – you can take it. Brian ordered the glass print of the finished puzzle today! 🥳
I started the new puzzle this morning. Impressive, isn’t it? 🤣
This is the new puzzle image. I just love the calmness and fantasy of this. And, it has water, of course, one of my favorite things, plus purple!
Brian took a break from working and came to see how I was. We went for chocolate – always a wonderful thing – and we’ll meet later to share some dinner.
I made some more thank you cards for my housekeeper yesterday.
Meanwhile, I’m writing posts for the blog and then I’m going to paint some of my latest sketches.
I have to tell you that I really love my life lately. I can move from one fun thing to another, spending my day grinning from ear to ear, whether working a puzzle, reading on my Kindle, working in my art alcove, listening to music, watching a movie, writing blog posts, playing on the computer, taking a short walk, taking a nap, and more. I’m totally spoiled and loving every minute of it.
We go to visit my husband at the nursing home tomorrow morning. The last time he wasn’t hurting, had no complaints, and made sense much of the time. He’s still playing with the squeeze ball. We brought him the book he said he wanted, but we don’t think he’ll read it. At least he knows we love him and want to do whatever we can to make him happier and more comfortable. Hopefully tomorrow’s visit will be a good one.
I hope that you are finding joy in your life. Life is too short to be taken up only with have-to’s. Really work to set aside some time for YOU. Tell the people you love how much they mean to you as many times as they will let you. 🤗
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Thank you to Enezator on X for posting this. I wanted to share it with you
Filed under Uncategorized
@gettoknownature.bsky.social
“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.” – Claude Monet
@glengrambo.bsky.social
“Birds are the eyes of Heaven.”― Suzy Kassem
Remy Michaels – @remyscameraeye.bsky.social
“Like a bird whistles freely in perfect tune,
I also allow my Soul to Sing its Song”― Rhys Blanco
Adam – @mylifeoutside.bsky.social
“The birds fly uncaged, triumphant in spirit, sensing the boundless freedom.”
― Jayita Bhattacharjee
Debbie O’Riley Pics – @debbieo.bsky.social
“I want to tell the worldthere is a bird in every part of your body.”
― Sneha Subramanian Kanta
@jon5cents.bsky.social
“With winged companions
by my side,
I will stretch.
I will soar.
I will fly.”
― Jenny Noble Anderson,
Maureen the Mallard – @aintright.bsky.social
“Birds will give you a window, if you allow them. They will show you secrets from another world– fresh vision that, though it is avian, can accompany you home and alter your life. They will do this for you even if you don’t know their names– though such knowing is a thoughtful gesture. They will do this for you if you watch them.”― Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Filed under Amazing Animals
@Aleena206498 on X
Pinterest – No attribution
Maria Rose – @fuzia on X
Megan Elizabeth – Artist – @MeganArtUK on X
Sue Hewson Artist – @sjhr_sue on X
I’m in awe of the talent of these artists. I just love their work. I’m proud to live on the same planet! 🙂
Filed under drawings
@Sonia_L_Preston. Sonia Lera Preston on X
I love the colors, the feel, and the texture of her work. She left a message on X quite a while back that she was going to be working on a website, but I looked yesterday and couldn’t find one. Her work is also listed on some other social sites if you’re interested in trying to find her work.
Filed under paintings I love
These are the newest sketches/paintings from my art alcove.
Brian and I will go out for errands soon and then I’ll probably have the afternoon to myself. I plan to do a combination of watching a favorite movie (!) and starting some sketches.
My weather app says, “Rainy conditions will continue all day.” Right now the sun is shining, so I’m taking a chance and my drying rack is out on my balcony. It won’t be the end of the world if it all gets rained on while we’re out.
I felt better today, so I went to the gym and walked my mile NOT touching the handlebars, concentrating on not losing my balance. My ARMS got a bit tired, so I kept changing up whether I swung them down at my sides, up by my waist, or up higher with my fingers closed. Worked pretty well.
I spent much of yesterday afternoon taking in my two pairs of jeans and two pairs of cut-off-exercise jeans. I’m trying to make these last until I get to the weight I want to maintain. THEN I’ll splurge and buy a couple of pairs of jeans that fit well, encouraging me to maintain my weight. The exercise cut-offs don’t matter as long as they stay on. 🤣
Oddly enough, on my list of things I would like to get when we can get to it is a couple of sweatshirts – one to wear, if needed, and one to be in the wash while I use the other. We often go places where we need to wait a long time and they keep the a/c on “KILL.” I get chilled, then downright uncomfortable. I’m taking a suggestion from Brian, who carries a sweatshirt in his carrier for these situations. My light hoodie and jean jacket just aren’t enough.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
One of my all-time favorite movies is “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Audrey Hepburn. I had a collection of favorites on several shelves at our home in Arkansas, but they had to be left there when we moved to Thailand.
Brian subscribed to Netflix for me here so I could watch movies, but this one wasn’t available, as was the case with several others. He figured out a way to download some of my favorites, convert them to the proper format, and then move them to the “computer” section on my TV!
Now I’m busy making lists of my favorite actors and actresses, finding their films and seeing if Netflix offers them. If it does, I’m putting them in my ‘watch list.’ If not, I give them to Brian.
So far, I’ve been so busy, I haven’t taken time to watch a movie. With some of my favorites available now, I’m looking forward to spending an afternoon diving into one of them!
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
Tina Ann
I just love Tina Ann’s artwork and sense of fun. I just can’t find enough of her work to satisfy me. 😃
My day has been a bit of a mixed bag. It started out with my feeling woozy with low blood pressure and opting out of my gym workout, to be closely followed by POURING rain and some leakage of my windows, necessitating towels and my bucket. I did my laundry and set up to have it dry on the rack inside. I then rested.
Now I’m feeling fine, my blood pressure is almost perfect on half of my BP pill, and the sun came out, causing me to move my drying rack out onto the balcony. I’ll watch closely to see if the weather changes….
Brian and I are at work on getting an image of the finished owl puzzle printed on glass by a company called FractureMe.com who made the wonderful image of my dad’s painting Brian got me as a housewarming present for my new place.
My idea is to do this for each of the puzzles I finish and put the glass images on the shelf in my living area with the painting my dad did as the centerpiece of the display. I love the idea of my vision growing and making a special statement. I took a pic of the owl puzzle earlier and sent it to Brian. He said it sucked (not in those words) and will take a better image for this project when he comes to my place later.
I’m going to concentrate on doing some sketches this afternoon. While I was typing this, though, I was distracted by birds singing their hearts out outside my window. I hadn’t heard them before and now CAN – because of my new hearing aids! What a delight!!!!!
(By the way. although each of us is different, if you’re in the market for help with your hearing, the brand I settled on is Oticon Intent 3. I love them because they are so comfortable I forget I’m wearing them. (an example of this is that I started to put my headphones on the other night to listen to YouTube on top of my hearing aids!) They have rechargeable batteries, so I take them off and put them in the charger until I want them again. There is a phone app so I can adjust them to suit conditions, making them louder or softer or using the ‘voice boost’ feature – when I’m needing to quiet the background noises. End of commercial. 😂
I hope that you’re having a wonderful day or evening, depending on where you are and that you’re finding beautiful things to enjoy.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
“Fans of Paper Blooms”
“Sparks and Mists”
“Paper Phoenix”
Sonia Lera Preston – @Sonia_L_Preston on X
Filed under paintings I love
I’ve decided I am a puzzle pervert, in that I just love the way the finished puzzle feels lying on the table now. I keep finding myself at the table, just pressing my hands down to FEEL the pieces. I know – will you still accept me even though I’m weird? 🤭
Brian was mentioning that he thought that Khun Nong, my wonderful housekeeper, would get a kick out of seeing the finished puzzle on the table Friday. I hope she does!
I was talking to him about wanting to preserve the puzzle somehow. He came up with what I think is a wonderful idea.
This is a technique where experts save your image into glass. This is a personality painting that my dad did of me when I was about 6 or so and I had at our home in Arkansas. When Brian saw I was sad to leave it, he took a picture of it and had this done. It now sits on my shelf in my living area and I feel like my dad is here with me.
He is suggesting we do the same thing with the finished puzzle image. This way I can display it on the shelf, hopefully along with others! I’ll take a picture of it if we actually get this accomplished🙂.
My next puzzle has been ordered and is on the way. My owls will remain on the table until I get the next one. Even if the new puzzle comes today, I will leave the owls for Khun Nong to see.
Filed under Challenges
I did it! I FINALLY finished the owls jigsaw puzzle yesterday! To the last piece, it was quite a challenge. I had to shift whole parts of the puzzle to the left, move the bottom down, remove part of the left side to get it right, but things finally came together. I’ve never had such a difficult puzzle where pieces looked like they fit, but they didn’t. ARRRRGH!
I showed Brian when we returned from visiting my husband at the nursing home. He looked it over carefully, compared it to the picture I have on the wall, and declared, “I guess I believe it.” He said he didn’t think I would finish it. I think that started the ball rolling on my determination to do it. 😃
Brian declared that the owl above is glaring at me because it took me so long to finish the puzzle.
This guy Brian thought was merely staring at me.
The ones on the right were chattering about me in amazement that this was so difficult for me.
My housekeeper, Khun Nong, showed an interest in the puzzle last Friday. I told Brian I would keep the puzzle on the table at least until she got to see the finished piece. I will also keep it until I get the new puzzle that Brian ordered me today!
I LOVE, love, LOVE being able to leave my puzzle out right in the living area of my place not worrying about it being in anyone’s way, causing any problems, making demands on how quickly it comes together. It used to drive my husband nuts when I would have one out, even in my art studio upstairs, so I just stopped trying to do them for quite a while. I’m SO enjoying playing with them now.
I rediscovered how good a puzzle FEELS when the pieces are together. I’m now enjoying stopping each time I pass it and running my hands over it, or just placing my hands on top of it and enjoying how it feels. 🤗
Filed under Challenges
While Brian and I were walking yesterday, I suddenly felt woozy. I held onto a pole by the side of the street and slid down to sit on the curb. When I felt better, I stood up, and Brian insisted I stand for several minutes and breathe. Turns out he was right because I got woozy again and sat back down. After a minute or two I tried it again and suddenly Brian was telling me to sit down carefully. Apparently, he saw something wonky was going on and caught me as I fainted! I wasn’t hurt and was able to continue the walk after another minute or two.
When we got over the immediate emergency of my husband’s stroke, hospital stay, and placement in the nursing home, we made an appointment for me to get a baseline on my health. It showed SUPER high blood pressure, to the point that the doctor prescribed a combination drug on the spot and got me right on it. Happily, it did the trick and my numbers have come down out of the stroke range.
Lately though, my numbers have been a bit TOO low, getting our attention. With this episode, Brian has written the doctor and included the name and dosage of my medication, plus a screen shot of my last several days of BP readings for her to look at. With my 20 lb weight loss and my daily exercising, it’s possible that we need to lessen the dose. Meanwhile, I didn’t take the med yesterday and only took a half pill today. We’re waiting to see what she advises.
Also, meanwhile, my friend Cathy suggested I get an oximeter to read and monitor the level of oxygen in my blood – also a good suggestion, since low blood oxygen was the reason the doctor in Arkansas insisted I go to the ER the day I saw him. This resulted in my ‘dying’ twice in one night and the installation of a temporary and then permanent pacemaker. Brian has just ordered an oximeter for me so I can keep track of that for the doc, too.
So, a bit of drama on the street, getting our attention. I’m fine today, not feeling woozy at all, BP in the normal range. Hopefully, this is a one-time incident.
Filed under Health Alert
I’m under the weather today. I’ll post tomorrow. Have a wonderful day.
Filed under Uncategorized
Flo
Pet Control HQ
I am finally walking on the treadmill with my hands swinging as I walk rather than holding onto the handlebars tightly for fear of losing my balance. I wasn’t at all sure that my brain and body could be retrained after the anesthesia from my surgery in February caused both hearing loss and loss of balance. Now I have hearing aids (!) and I am having success on regaining my sense of balance. I’m still walking slowly and really having to concentrate, but I am improving each day. 👍
I’m making progress in my efforts for there to be less of me. Since I moved to Thailand and saw a doctor here in April for a baseline, I’ve lost 9.8 kilos or 21.6 pounds. All told, I’ve now lost 34.48 kilos or a bit over 76 pounds since my heaviest. There are 68 fewer inches of me. I can finally see a possible goal weight. I am now in the healthy weight range on the BMI charts for the first time since I started my efforts about two years ago.
Pixnio
Since I’ve been building my strength, can now hear with hearing aids, am improving my balance and mentally pushing myself a bit, I’ve started small ventures out on my own. Today I’ll take a walk to visit the Koi fish!
Baby steps to be sure, but progress!
Filed under getting the lard off
@endlesslyyforever.bsky.social
“Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.”– John Harrigan
@oto2.bsky.social
“Flowers don’t tell, they show.” – Stephanie Skeem
Pinterest – no attribution
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank
Dave’s Photos – @davesadventures.bsky.social
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.”– Buddha
Filed under Uncategorized
@alan678.bsky.social
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” ~ Langston Hughes
@alan678.bsky.social
“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” ~ David Attenborough
I’m sorry, I don’t have the source credit for this photo.
“I don’t ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful.” ~ Pete Hamill
Stella Kim-Smith – original fine art painting
“My heart is like a singing bird.” ~ Christina Rossetti
Filed under Amazing Animals
We had a 650 foot STEEP driveway when we lived in Greenwood, Arkansas. One of the joys of living outside of town on top of a ridge line was making decorations for our mailbox and yard.
We used a CNC set up in our shop. This consisted of a computer-guided torch and a table on which we could use the torch to cut out designs from 8′ x 4′ sheet metal.
We would decide what we wanted to make, looking for ideas from the net. My husband had a program that converted pictures to computer language. We would take that information from the office in the house out to our shop.
We cut out the design, then my husband would weld on a mounting bar that we would use to attach the finished design to the mailbox at the bottom of our driveway.
I would transfer the design details onto both sides of the sheet metal with a magic marker and an overhead projector, then use outdoor paint to paint both sides of the design. I protected the finished designs with polyurethane spray.
We changed the decorations twice a month. Some of the designs were geared to what month it was, holidays in that month. and others were favorite cartoon characters. Other married people ‘fight’ about money or the kids. We fought about what to make next and what colors to paint them!
In the background of these pictures, you can see part of the robot we made from scrap metal, welcoming visitors to the house and one of the two owls who stood on either side of the driveway.
Filed under Lewis Art
creativeartworksblog 