“Bright of the Night”
“Hostas to the Sun”
“Plentiful”
“Plum Rain”
Watercolor Collage – Sheri Trepina – Watercolours by Sheri
Books to Give Yourself and Others
I’ve enjoyed three books lately that I will keep and read over and over. I wanted to share them with you so that you can give yourself a gift, plus – if you feel the way I do about them – you’ll buy and give to others –
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
Reminiscent of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne with illustrations by E. H. Shepard, this is a deceptively simple book full of hand-written quiet wisdom and illustrations that grab your heart. Here is a sample –
“I’ve discovered something better than cake.”
“No you haven’t,” said the boy.
“I have,” replied the mole.
“What is it?”
“A hug. It lasts longer.”
This is a good one to keep by your reading chair, where you can pick it up any time your heart needs a lift.
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US by Curtis Wiklund
Curtis Wiklund and his wife are professional photographers. His wife participated in a challenge to take one photo a day. While his wife did that, he decided to draw one sketch each day. His subject matter was his marriage – their everyday lives, challenges, and love. His illustrations are heartfelt and his love shines through like a beacon. Some will make you laugh, others will fill your heart, some might make you cry. All are special. Here is a sample –
A beautiful reminder of what sharing your life with someone can be. How strong a bond can be.
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How to be HAPPY, dammit – a cynic’s guide to spiritual happiness by Karen Salmansohn
This is a very quick read, but one you find yourself thinking about and absorbing. 44 Life Lessons presented with sass and humor and wit. Ideas that will make you rethink some things you thought you knew, that you believed, that you might not have been aware you believed and lived by. I’ve read it once so far. I smirked. I laughed out loud. And I’ve thought about it since. I plan to read this one again and again so that I can really absorb the breezy wisdom here. I like the way Karen Salmansohn thinks. I’ll go see if she has written other books. Here is a sample –
“Life Lesson # 7 – You — and those you’ve befriended/worked with/slept with – each of you – just like plants – comes with your own unique feeding manual. You each have your own needs and speeds for growth. You must read each person’s instruction manual carefully – then proceed with caution!”
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I hope you enjoy these. :0)
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews, Favorite Authors & Books
Thoughts At Christmas
By Common Consent
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“Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don’t quite know how to put our love into words.” – Harlan Miller
“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.” – Mary Ellen Chase
“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” ~Janice Maeditere
“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” ~Larry Wilde
“I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” ~Harlan Miller
“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” ~Andy Rooney
Filed under Favorite Quotes, holidays
Pastels by Rita Kirkman
“A Boy and His Sister”
“Audrey with Flowers at Seven”
“Bella in the Blue Bonnets”
“Safe Haven”
Filed under Pastels, Rita Kirkman Pastels
Nick Mackman’s Amazing Sculpture
For some reason, I thought Nick Mackman was a man. NOT TRUE! While I was oohing and ahhing over the sculptures again, looking for things I hadn’t shared with you previously, I found a photo labeled, “Nick Mackman, Sculptor”.
So now that I have adjusted my mental picture of this talented artist, here is some more of her amazing sculpture –
Filed under Nick Mackman Animal Sculpture, sculpture
Merry Christmas 2022
Woman’s Day
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I just had the BEST Christmas present – I got to talk to our son via the conference call program. We had a wonderful talk. I got to see him smile and laugh. I’m feeling HUGGED right now. :0)
I hope you’re having a nice Christmas at your house. It’s 20 degrees here, but it’s supposed to get to 38 this afternoon! Woo HOOO! Since my husband is taking a nap, I’m trying to be a responsible adult and get things a bit more organized in the office. I am behind on my online bookkeeping – with November’s information sitting beside me in a folder. I’ll try to get that taken care of today. I’m also officially changing calendars today.
2022
As you can see, I’m very messy. This, though, and my kitchen calendar, together, keep me straight on our obligations, accomplishments, etc. Each year I tell myself that I’ll actually USE the lines on the calendar, trying to be neater, and then I degenerate into my normal messy state…
2023
solagohome.com
We are eating normally today, even though it’s Christmas. With all the kind people who love us and don’t care about our lack of willpower, we have devoured pumpkin bread, Mt. Dew Cake with Pineapple, and a box of chocolates, among other things. We are full as ticks and are both ready to TRY to tone it down some.
Minions
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This is DAY 163 of daily yoga. Yesterday I held the plank pose three times at a count of 30 each. I hope that 2023 brings me more flexibility, more strength, more balance, less pain and stiffness, and less of me. :0)
The U.S. Sun
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Enjoy today with warmth, love, and lots and lots of hugs!
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Filed under holidays, Thoughts on a ________
“𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦”
- Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.
- Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
- It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
- You cannot unsay a cruel word.
- Silence is sometimes the best answer.
- If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
- If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
- Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
- Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
- Most times, it just gets down to common sense.
(Sent to me by my good friend, Marsha.)
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
Celebrate!
PBL Works
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We are in celebration mode at the Lewis house.
My husband went out to the shop right before lunch and put the new part he ordered on the air compressor. It was the RIGHT part and WORKED!
He told me the compressor charged up to 120 pounds during the test he ran after he got the compressor back together.
We use the air compressor ALL the time, so this is huge for us. I use it to etch designs on glassware, plus clean yucky tools. We have several air tools, like the tool that helps us get the lug nuts off the truck tires and then put the snow tires on. We also use it to do powder coating of things we make.
It’s big – about 8 feet or so tall and about 2-1/2 feet wide. We have a really long cord that we wind up with a gravity-based (I think) wheel to draw the cord up and out of the way. There are small, compact units now that you can throw into the back of your car. This is NOT one of those, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
When the compressor failed, my husband took it apart, figured out which part had failed, took it off, brought it inside where he could try to find a replacement part on the computer. Got the part, put it on, and we’re back in business. Are you as impressed as I?
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Challenges
“Let Them Eat Cake”
BoredPanda.com
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Yeah, it’s the holidays and the latest excuse for stuffing my face. We’ve been gifted pumpkin bread, Mt. Dew Cake, a box of chocolates and more. Add on that the weather has been encouraging comfort food, and the excuses pile up. UGH
I’ve been trying to keep my food diary on MyFitnessPal.com, but there is no real way to list the wonderful goodies above, so it’s a ball park estimate. We have almost eaten our way through these, so that problem will be gone. The weather is improving a bit each day, making the desire for comfort food less. As the excuses drop off, hopefully willpower will increase.
I wrote a letter to Santa the other day, posting in here on the blog. A selfish addition to it would be for me to lose my food addiction. It sounds wonderful to me to be the rare person who doesn’t think of food, who actually has to be reminded to eat – at least until further notice. Is that too much to ask Santa?
Filed under DIET!
Christmas Eve 2022
Getty Images
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I hope that you have been good this year and can hope that Santa fills your stocking tonight with goodies that will delight you all year long.
Gift giving is over for us now, having given the presents I made and other gifts to family and friends. My husband and I get each other things all year ’round, whenever we find them, so have agreed not to exchange gifts at Christmas. Our son is across the world in Thailand, so it’s just the two of us this year. We’ll probably talk with him via the conference call program he has set up for us tonight or tomorrow. Happily, we’ve come through the unseasonably cold weather for Arkansas just fine. We’re still dripping water in two sinks, but I think we’re though the worst of it now. It’s 16 degrees now and a high of 29 is expected this afternoon. Break out the swim suits!
Last night we got an email that UPS had delivered the part for which my husband had been waiting to hopefully fix the air compressor in the shop. When I looked at the proof of delivery, it said, ‘left on the front porch.’ I looked, but no package was there. My husband drove down the driveway to look for the package and also check for mail. There was a plastic bag with a package in it tied to the arm of our robot. (Apparently, our ‘front door’ has moved from our house to the bottom of our driveway.)
He went out to the shop early this morning to turn the heat on in the shop. He went out awhile ago to start working on the air compressor. He came right back, saying, “I think it needs more time.” I encouraged him to wait until after lunch and reminded him that we aren’t under the gun for any reason on this and that he can take his time. We’ll see.
My good friend Kay called to see if we had ‘been blowed off our hill’ last night. We assured each other that we have gotten through this uncivilized weather with no problems thus far and hoped we were past the worst of it. She and her husband, Bud, suffered badly previously, having a pipe burst, flooding their kitchen and dining area. They had to have all that replaced and it cost a fortune, as well as being traumatic. This time we’re both lucky. :0)
Amber
Abby
Our animals have been very grateful for a warm, dry house and plenty of food and water, too. Our cat usually prefers to sleep in the garage, but she hasn’t balked that we kept her inside the past two nights. She took over one of Amber’s beds, turning over on her back, spreading out as much as possible, and daring Amber to come near. Amber wisely chose to sleep on one of her other beds.
I hope Christmas Eve finds you healthy and happy, surrounded by as many of those you love as possible.
Filed under holidays
“Slow Progress is Better Than NO Progress”
lifestyle.livemint.com
So says Lynn, my wonderful massage therapist who saves my life once a month. I’m kind of in “assessment” mode this morning, looking back to gauge lifestyle changes.
- This is DAY 162 of my effort to make daily yoga practice a habit. I’m definitely one of the hard-heads on how long it takes to make something a habit. I looked it up and found, according to some estimates, that it takes from 18-245 days to make something a habit. Day 162 finds me consciously making myself practice each afternoon – still finding myself quietly trying to make excuses for ‘missing-a-day’ and then just slogging around getting my mat, pillows and just doing it. It HAS become a normal part of my day, and I AM seeing some differences.
- I’ve added some new poses to my practice: Cobra, Downward Dog, ‘Basket,’ Boat, the Plank, and some abdominal exercises thrown in. My practice is about 45 minutes now, but it varies. Sometimes I concentrate on exercise numbers – other times the relaxation and stretching.
- I am listening to my body more since I started doing the daily practice. I’m aware when my shoulders and neck are ‘hunched,’ and I’m able to concentrate and relax more. I tell myself, “relaxing jaw, relaxing face,” and I can FEEL my shoulders GIVE, when I wasn’t aware how tightly I was holding myself. I’m able to stretch a bit farther now, breathing into the poses, holding them longer or doing a few more repetitions.
- I’m still putting the gold or silver glittery stick-on stars on my desk calendar. I guess I’ll never outgrow that being a motivator for me, but the emphasis is changing in my actual practice. I’m doing it for ME.
- I started trying to do the plank pose at the end of October. The first time I tried it, I held it for a quick count of 10. I worked up to holding it for a quick count of 45, but many times I couldn’t do much the next day, having strained myself. I found an article that said for for a woman of my ‘mature years,’ it’s actually more effective if I do the pose multiple times, holding it for a short while each time. Yesterday I held it for a count of 20 seven times.
- Since it’s too cold to work outside most days now, I’m going to try to add two things: (THING ONE – a short time on my elliptical trainer in the garage. It’s cold, but I think I can do several minutes out there every other day. THING TWO – I’m going to start doing the seated exercises with weights from Mike at MoreLifeHealthSeniors.com again. I’ll alternate these with the elliptical.
Know Your Meme
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I’m definitely making some kind of progress. It’s definitely slow, but it’s steady, and I’ll drink to that. :0)
Filed under exercise
Christmas “Pre-Eve” 12-23-2022
Grandin Road
It was -4 with a wind chill of -26 here when I woke up, according to thermometers and my computer. I’m sending a note of diplomatic protest to Mother Nature, as this is totally ‘uncivilized’ for Arkansas. Thankfully, no pipes burst overnight. Our garage door is frozen shut, however. I discovered that when I tried to let the dog out. I made sure it wasn’t still trying to open – burning out the motor – shut off the light and let the dog out the people door at the front of the house instead. We kept our cat in overnight, thinking that she would probably wake us up in the middle of the night meowing to get out. She didn’t! It is now a balmy 3 degrees F. with a wind chill of -14. It’s supposed to finally get above freezing Monday afternoon. I’m trying not to even think about our water bill, since we’re having to drip water in two sinks in order to try to keep our pipes from freezing. I hope that you are safe, dry, and well this bitterly cold morning on this ‘night-before’ the ‘night-before-Christmas.’
We’ll have a comfort food dinner of chicken, onions and mushrooms in cream of chicken and mushroom soup over rice tonight.
Have a snuggly day.
Filed under holidays, Mother Nature, Seasons
And the Forecasters Were Right
Routinely Nomadic
“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together.” ~ Verna M. Kelly
It misted, then changed to rain, then changed to sleet, then changed to snow. And all is white now, but not much actual snow. The temperature is 11 degrees now with a wind chill of -9.
Since we are prepared to stay up on top of our ridge line until the world is more civilized, and my husband got a text that the part he ordered to try to fix our air compressor had been delivered, he jumped in the truck to go down to get it, and the mail at the bottom of the driveway. (Our driveway is 650+ feet and STEEP, so this is not a small decision.) Since I couldn’t change his mind, I insisted he at least take his phone so he could tell me he was stuck in a snow drift. He grumbled, but did it.
He got back up the hill with no problem. I had quickly swept the garage of leaves while he was gone. We have now left the garage door half way open, so the animals can go in and out, but a lot of the cold stays out. I also went ahead and started dripping water in my husband’s sink upstairs and our utility room sink downstairs. Hopefully, that will be enough so they won’t freeze.
All of that and UPS had NOT left a package for us…. At least we know we’re not stuck yet.
I would much rather see a beautiful PHOTO of the snow, rather than actually be IN it…
Filed under Mother Nature, Seasons
Smirking Scales
depositphotos_viperagp
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Beachbody on Demand
MyFitnessPal.com is helping me get through the holidays and not cause the scales to simply give up on me, though they ARE definitely smirking.
I really like this site because they do a lot to make it easy to keep track of what you’re eating. I particularly like their extensive data base of what others have added so it’s usually quick to find and list it. If you’re making a home made thing that is not on the list, you can add the ingredients once and then save it so you can easily add it again by name and others can use it, too.
Exercise can also be added, plus how many glasses of water you’re drinking, plus note about eating or exercise. I keep the tab open on my computer so that I can add things during the day, or plan what I’m eating and then modify, if needed, BEFORE I make a mistake.
The scales and the app are both doing THEIR part – I just need to do mine…
Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise
Rachel Altschuler Art 2
Filed under animal paintings
Letter to Santa 2022
Lewis Mailbox
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Dear Santa,
I’ve been a reasonably ‘good girl’ this year – well, mostly. Sometimes.
I know your priority is to try to fill the requests in the letters of all the good little girls and boys who are anxiously waiting for your visit Christmas Eve, and that’s as it should be.
If you find you have a bit of time and energy left, though, I would very much appreciate your consideration in fulfilling these requests –
- Please help those I love to be healthy in the coming year. As you know, things have been stressful for them and they need a bit of extra help to be able to do all the things they would like to do.
- Please do what you can to help those who are suffering. Maybe just seeing you fly over an extra time or two would give them hope and strength.
- Please encourage us to tone down the rhetoric and remember that we are all in this world together. We need to listen more and talk less.
I really don’t need presents. I have everything I need, except maybe an extra hug or two. I realize I’m asking a lot, but we need help, especially now.
Thank you.
Thursday Thoughts 12-22-2022
Pexels
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The first part of the weather forecast for Greenwood is happening now – heavy mist turning to rain, then sleet, and later snow. It’s quite gray outside. Thankfully, we’re warm and dry with Amber, our 95 lb yellow lab and Abby, our cat, taking full advantage of the warm and dry. Even with the rain and snow today, at least the temperature will be above freezing. Starting tomorrow, we won’t get above freezing until Monday afternoon. Cabinet doors are open and we’ll be dripping water at night. Update – the rain has now turned to sleet.
Amber woke us early this morning, barking. We think we might have another raccoon coming through the cat door to eat our cat’s food and what bird seed it can find. :0( I’m trying a new thing of bringing whatever cat food is still in the cat’s bowl inside when she is in with us, putting it out with her again when she is out. I have no idea if this will have results, but it’s worth a try.
We stocked up on supplies Tuesday, and I spent about an hour repacking meat and chicken this morning to be in dinner-cooking packages in the freezer. I finished that, got it all stored, the packaging washed and thrown away and the kitchen cleaned up. My husband looked at me like I was crazy, watching me wash the packaging, but I told him it was part of the NOT giving critters enticement to come into the garage.
I had a really nice day yesterday – with Lunch Bunch in the morning and a massage in the afternoon. I came home feeling relaxed and happy. My husband was taking a nap when I got home, so I joined him. Nice, lazy, happy day.
I’m enjoying a calm, slow start to our day. I’ll try to get my act together and get something accomplished. Have a happy, safe day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Rachel Altschuler Bird Paintings
Filed under animal paintings
Almost Christmas 2022
Hand Luggage Only – iStock
“Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles.” – Anonymous
Filed under holidays
1st Day of Winter 2022
This snowman is happy, but I’m not. Arkansas is a place of mild winters – one of the reasons we decided to settle here. I’ve even had lettuce still growing in December before! And yet, today, we’re having our Christmas Lunch Bunch to avoid the coming bad weather. Tomorrow the forecast is for rain/sleet/ice/snow and flying hairballs – with a wind chill. Friday morning is supposed to be -4 with a windchill of -25. This is NOT civilized for Arkansas!
Enough griping. I’m happy that we’re meeting with our friends in about an hour to laugh, hug, enjoy a good meal and exchange presents. I’ll head out again for a massage and gift exchange at 2. When I get home I’ll try to handle any details with getting ready for the coming weather and prepare to snuggle in until further notice. I have a reminder prominently displayed so we’ll remember to drip water from one faucet downstairs and another upstairs that have been problem areas in the past.
I feel lucky we have a warm, dry house. The heat and air techs just came a couple of days ago to check out our system and we’re good. We have a generator if we lose power. It runs everything except heat or air. We have a wood burning fireplace with a blower on it if we need it.
I wish you a happy 1st day of winter. Make it a really nice day.
Filed under Mother Nature, Seasons
More Tuesday Thoughts 12-20-2022
Unsplash
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We have had a happy day today.
We did our errands – checking the mailbox, going to Walmart and Harps to stock up on supplies in case we’re snowed or iced in, then stopping at the restaurant to see if our waitress, Mikey, was there. (She isn’t going to be there for our Lunch Bunch celebration tomorrow and I wanted to give her the present I made for her.) She was there, but said she was planning to stop at the restaurant tomorrow, even though she wasn’t working, to bring presents. I made her PROMISE she would do that, and then gave her a hug and left. We put our humongous, empty trash can in the back of the truck when we got back home and brought it back up to the garage.
We indulged in fish dinners from the grocery deli. They were delicious, as usual, and then we both took naps. We checked around outside when we woke up, making sure all was ready for the bad weather. We’ll also watch the low temperatures and drip water overnight from two faucets inside that have given us problems in the past. All is good for tomorrow, but the bad stuff is supposed to come Thursday and beyond.
It’s 51 and sunny right now -starting to get dark. It’s hard to believe we’ll have such a change in weather.
lifestyle.livemint.com
Today is DAY 158 on my daily yoga practice. I held the plank for a count of 20 four times today. I probably could have done one more, but I’ve learned the hard way that ‘one more time’ sometimes does me in for a day or two afterwards. Better to be able to practice EVERY day.
Hoping for a quiet evening.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
creativeartworksblog 