
Benton AR

Benton AR
These pictures are beginning to get me into the Christmas spirit.

Benton AR

Benton AR
These pictures are beginning to get me into the Christmas spirit.
Filed under holidays

Giphy

happy-birthday-gif-dog-download.gif

happy-birthday-golden-retriever
I’ve set my alarm to write to our son about 8pm this evening – since he is 12 or 13 hours ahead of us – to wish him a Happy Birthday. He is 44 years old this evening/tomorrow.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family

BBC
Tomorrow afternoon we’re due for probable severe weather, so the gray TODAY is looking pretty darned good. It’s too wet, still, to work in the yard, and tomorrow will, of course, bring lots MORE rain, plus hail, plus flying hairballs, so another inside day here.


Yesterday we bought a new leaf blower/vacuum. Most of the ones we saw seemed WAY too expensive, but we then lucked into this Craftsman 12.0. I probably won’t use the vacuum parts, but there’s a MAYBE to that. I’ll just store the bag and the vacuum attachments carefully until next time. For now, I’ll hope it works well if the leaves outside ever dry enough to blow. I’d like to blow the leaves one more time before I pronounce the front yard ‘ready for winter.’

Our son sent us this pic of a meal he received from a new service that delivers to his condo daily. It looks delicious, doesn’t it? This will allow him to eat a healthy variety of nicely cooked food without a lot of shopping, cooking, etc. I would love it it they would deliver to US, too, but it’s a bit out of their delivery zone, being across the world from us…

I called my friend Linda to see if this afternoon is a good time for me to come and see her new apartment and retirement facility. She seemed delighted that I called. I’ll take the jigsaw puzzle as a housewarming present.
Make it a good Monday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I found an artist whose work makes me tear up and melt into a puddle. His name is Curtis Wiklund and he is actually a professional photographer. He and his wife, Jordan, live in Michigan. They are both professional photographers and can be hired to do wedding photos, etc. He sketches as a hobby, and challenged himself to do a sketch a day for a year while his wife did a photo challenge. He decided to do sketches of himself and his wife doing everyday things. The result is beautiful. The love flows through his sketches and wraps around you. I’m still tearing up after saving several sketches to share with you. You can find samples of his photos, information on hiring him and his wife, and sketches at Curtis Wiklund. You can purchase prints, the book of his sketches, called US (I just ordered it on Amazon), and more.

“Ah, I love her.”

“Back Scratch as Sedative”

“Christmas Tree”

“Happy Anniversary”

“Mao’s Last Dance”

Batesville AR

Batesville AR
The combination of the pretty lights and the water is just a feast for the eyes and heart.
Filed under holidays

Van Buren AR
One of my favorite things is Christmas lights. They get me into the spirit of the holidays like nothing else. I found some pics of towns in Arkansas that are celebrating in style that I’ll share with you over the coming days.
Filed under holidays

India Today
My husband and I are having our separate, but equal, frustrations today.
FIGHT ONE –
My husband finally won HIS fight – we got new windshield wipers for the truck. He tried, but had trouble with getting the old ones off last night. This should be a simple thing to do. You push one button and the thing comes off. No dice. He gave up, tackling it again this morning. He came into the office a few minutes ago, saying he had to DESTROY the old ones to get them off. He put the new ones on and we’re in good shape now, but he got thoroughly frustrated in trying to get the old ones off, plus got chilled working for so long in the cold garage.
FIGHT TWO –
MY fight is trying to file a claim on a package that wasn’t delivered. I ordered two things from Amazon. I hadn’t received them, so I got online to see if I could track the order. It was marked that it had been delivered last Wednesday. The proof of delivery said the UPS driver left it “at the mailbox.” We didn’t get an email notifying us of the delivery and we check the robot and the mailbox each time we drive down. I contacted Amazon, who told me to talk to UPS. I got online. The site wouldn’t accept our password. I tried to change the password and got a screen saying that the app for that wasn’t working now. I called and talked to a robot, who told me that claims couldn’t be taken on the phone, directing me back to the website. I’ll keep trying, but it looks like I’m screwed. :0(
Filed under Attitude, Challenges
Michelle Palmer does fine art ink illustrations on tea-stained cotton.




Filed under drawings, Michelle L. Palmer Art, Michelle L. Palmer Art

s.click.aliexpress.com

streepjevoorwonen.nl.-N Streepje Voor

uploaded to Pinterest by Annabelle Lanfermeijer

uploaded to Pinterest by Catie Scott

uploaded to Pinterest by xujun
Filed under paintings I love

Spotify
The temperature is warm for December (56 degrees F.) but it’s gray, gloomy, and quite rainy this morning. I think the rain is supposed to ease off this afternoon, but remain cloudy. And that’s the weather forecast for Arkansas…
I’m going to use the ‘inside day’ to start my Christmas cards and get some presents ready to mail. That should help me get into the Christmas spirit finally.
My friend, Linda from Lunch Bunch has moved to the retirement place now. I’m going to call and get a tour from her next week with housewarming gifts in hand. She is a bit tentative about the move right now, talking about so many old people there, so I encouraged her to ‘dance down the halls and get people in trouble with her at the helm.’ We’ll see what she can stir up. :0)
My husband and I went to Walmart after Lunch Bunch yesterday, but didn’t find a leaf blower there. We’ll try Yeager’s next. I also want to see if I can find a reciprocating saw to add to my arsenal of ‘things-to-hack-or-cut-things-down.’
Mundane things like laundry will also fill the day. I’ll change the sheets on our bed and fix chili mac for our dinner on this chilly, wet day.

etsy.com
Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Children’s Dentistry – Fort Valley, GA
____________________
Whenever I’m disappointed with my spot
in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott.
Jamie was trying out for a part in the
school play. His mother told me that he’d set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen..
On the day the parts were awarded, I went
with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement..
‘Guess what, Mom,’ he shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me…’I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer.’
__________________
(Sent to me by my friend, Marsha.)
I love this story. It reminds me of a teacher who was on America’s Got Talent with a huge group of kids. He described the voices of his kids (paraphrasing) “Some are great singers, some are good, and some sing with great enthusiasm.” :0)

Fanpop
Just hanging around, trying to figure out what I’ll do with the day today. It’s pretty, so I should try to lop off more weed trees in the back this afternoon. We have Lunch Bunch this morning, in about an hour. I’m hoping we’ll have a full house today. It’s been awhile since we were all able to get there, so it would be great to be able to catch up. After we eat lunch, we’ll go grab some groceries, since rain is supposed to start overnight and last through the day tomorrow.
I’ll get presents ready to mail and try to get Christmas cards going. I always do the envelope addressing, signing the cards, etc. I’ll see if my husband wants to dictate the Christmas letter we enclose to people we don’t see during the year. If he doesn’t want to, I’ll think about what to write. I love hearing from people at this time of year. It’s a wonderful way to virtually hug someone you can’t travel to see.
I wish you the happiest of Fridays, good weather, good company, and lots of hugs and laughter.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Part of the Christmas decorations on the square in Greenwood, Arkansas
I’m slow to get into the spirit this year, for some reason. This morning our son sent a picture to us of part of the decorations in Thailand –

Christmas in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Yesterday I started getting presents together for my friends. I’m mailing some and then giving others at various times, so I’ll get things together based on when and where they’re going. I’m also going to try to get started with Christmas cards. Maybe some Christmas music…
Filed under holidays, Uncategorized

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.” – Aldous Huxley

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.” – Franklin P. Jones

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“What do dogs do on their day off? Can’t lie around – that’s their job.” – George Carlin

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”– Josh Billings
Filed under drawings, Favorite Quotes, Sofia Haro

Virginia Family Dentistry
_________________
We leave in about an hour to drive to Fort Smith for our semi-annual dental cleaning. Our dentist is wonderful. His name is Wes Moore, DDS. We have gone to him for years now, and he has taken wonderful care of us. His staff is very kind, and the experts who have cleaned our teeth couldn’t have been better. So why the image above?
I’m a wuss. I DREAD going to the dentist to the point I can’t sleep the night before and my stomach is upset right now. I had braces when I was in my teens (but the ‘fix’ didn’t last – even though I wore my retainer as instructed). I didn’t have a cavity until last year. I never had to have anything done, until last year when I also had to have a painful wisdom tooth removed. I have little rational reason for my fear.
We had a dental hygienist named Shannon for years there. She remembered everything you ever said and continued the conversation 6 months later as if it had been yesterday. She was little bitty, pretty as a daffodil and a delight to see (except for her being at the dentist). Suddenly she was gone, killed in a private plane crash with her husband. She exists fondly in my mind, and I forget that we’ve lost such a beautiful person until the next time we get our teeth cleaned, when that fact has to be faced again.
Our current hygienist is a very nice lady. She is gentle as she can be and your teeth are the cleanest you can imagine when she finishes. She remembers that my mom died of oral cancer and that I’m super-anxious about that, so she does the cancer check first, rather than last, so that I can breathe a huge sigh of relief for another 6 months.
Hopefully we can laugh again about my blood pressure being high. I say ‘laugh’ because after the trip from Greenwood to Ft. Smith with my husband driving us in the Vette, my stomach is in knots, I’m nauseous, and it only gets worse as I think about getting home in one piece.
My husband is a good driver, but he still drives as if he’s 25 (picture the chase scene in your favorite movie) not altering his habits, still impatient at all the other drivers that are in his way – ‘dragging their feet.’ We have had ‘discussions’ when we are both calmer, with my suggesting that I would feel a LOT more comfortable if we 1) took the truck instead of the Vette, 2) if he would drive as if I were his little old granny, 3) etc. He thinks I’m overreacting, of course. I remember that he has had two strokes and has had a few problems since then, mainly with backing into things.
Our discussions haven’t made a difference, so I plant my feet strategically, bracing for a crash, hold onto whatever is available, try to say absolutely nothing, and close my eyes when it gets too much, being thankful if we get to where we’re going in one piece, and then back, with no tickets.
If you’re still reading, thanks. :0) If not, that’s okay, too. I’ll talk with you again later – assuming we get back all right.
Filed under Challenges

Though my husband won’t admit it, he is a Type II Diabetic. (He just says he has a sugar problem). Among other things, this causes his hands and feet to get really uncomfortably cold. I got him some diabetic socks recently, but he wasn’t happy with them, preferring the really thick socks found recently. Then I think it was my friend Marsha who suggested foot warmers and gave me a URL.
REI Co-Op sells foot warmers. They also sold toe warmers and hand warmers. I ended up ordering some of each, thinking he could try them and we could re-order what he liked. The box arrived today.
He just came into the office where I was at the computer listening to music. He gave me a huge hug and said ‘THANK YOU’ with tears in his eyes. This is very unusual for him, so I just continued to look at him. He went out and returned with the box of warmers. He had taken the toe warmers out and was wearing them with his thick socks in his tennis shoes and said his toes were warm for the first time during the day in as long as he could remember. He hugged me again. By then I, also, had teared up.
You never know what will make a difference. Since he really liked the toe warmers – and PROMISED me he would monitor things carefully to make SURE they weren’t causing him problems, (he has numbness in the toe area on his left foot) I will just monitor him carefully, checking his feet at night to see if I can see any problems.
Since I had only ordered six pairs of toe warmers, I researched the item to see what the range of prices was. I found a good deal at Amazon and ordered a large box. They’ll be here next week.
Who would have thought that one definition of ‘love’ is ‘toe warmers’?

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Everything I know, I learned from dogs.” ~ Nora Roberts

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” ~ Orhan Pamuk

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really.” – Agnes Sligh Turnbull

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras

Sofia Haro – BoredPanda.com
“Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses.” – Elizabeth Taylor
Filed under Uncategorized



Joao Carvalho aka J Desehos – Dovas – BoredPanda.com
Filed under drawings, Joao Carvalho - 3-D Notebook Drawings

Smashing Hub
I’m feeling pensive this morning, full of memories – swamped by them, actually – making it difficult to get much done yet. We’re having yet another gray day, but it’s already 55 degrees. Yesterday I was able to lop off some weed trees in the back. The loppers are heavy, though, so I can only spend a few minutes working each time. A good friend of mine suggested I get a small, battery-powered chainsaw. This is a great idea, except I’m a bit hesitant because all the weed trees are on a rocky slope and it’s easy to lose my footing. I really don’t want to fall with a chainsaw. So, I think I’ll continue doing what I can with the loppers for the time being, and then see if I can get my husband involved with the larger chainsaw we have. We’ll see.
Yesterday we did another session on cutting evergreen branches that were encroaching on the driveway. We took Amber in the back when we drove down to get our mail and put the trash can in the back of the truck. We stopped on the way back up and let her out so she could play while we worked. We now have the worst of the branches cut off now. Anything more we do is wonderful, but not crucial to our being able to get down – and back up again. (One year it took us two weeks with our chain saw to clear the driveway enough to drive the truck down.)

Amber

Abby
Amber just made me laugh out loud. I heard a “Meow!” and said, “Abby, do you want to go out?” Amber came right over, walked up with her upper half in the chair with me, smiling and snuffling my ear. I told her that I KNEW she hadn’t meowed, and she just smiled more, if possible, trying to get up into the chair with me. I finally got up to let both Amber and Abby out, meeting my husband at the front door, who was there to do the same thing. Well-trained humans!
Today I’m planning to bring a couple of Christmas presents downstairs and get them ready to mail. The post office has said we need to mail even earlier than usual this year in order to be sure our stuff gets to the people we love in time for Christmas. Maybe this will help me get into the spirit of the holidays. I’ll also try to get started with Christmas cards.

A quick shout-out to Carol, a really nice, talented lady I met yesterday online through the blog. We’ve emailed back and forth a couple of times now and have a lot in common. It’s nice to know we’re not alone in our situations, and I look forward to getting to know her better. :0)
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________

“Christmas Honors” – Fort Smith, Arkansas
The Ft. Smith National Cemetery now honors over 16,000 veterans. Before Christmas, volunteers come to the Ft. Smith Convention Center to put red bows on wreaths to decorate the headstones as you see here.
I’ve done this twice with my good friend, Carla, whose husband is buried here.
There were lots and lots of tables set up in a huge room. Other volunteers came with long poles on which wreaths were hung. They would pile them on the tables for us. Then others would come by with piles and piles of bows ready to be tied onto the wreaths. As we worked, still more would come to take the finished wreaths to waiting trucks for transport to the cemetery.
Christmas music played in the background and volunteers sang along or talked to the others at the tables. It took several hours, as you might imagine, to get the bows on 16,000 wreaths, but the feeling of love and warmth in that room took my breath away. Carla and I laughed and talked, hugged from time to time, took some breaks, and met other really nice people.
There is a special time for people who have loved ones in the cemetery to put a wreath on those headstones in a more private setting. When that has been done, volunteers put a wreath on all the others until all are decorated. As you can see, the finished product of the efforts is impressive.
After the holidays, the wreaths are gathered by more volunteers. The bows are removed and stored in huge boxes and the wreaths stored on poles for next year. It’s a beautiful way to honor our vets for their service. A very special time for me to help Carla honor her husband.

My sister-in-law creates this gorgeous display each year – a beautiful way to show off her collection and get into the Christmas spirit at the same time. She sent me these pictures, and she said it was okay if I shared them with you.

This is a close-up picture showing me that she includes two figurines in her display that I have sent her at various times over the years. It makes me feel that I am with her, and that’s a really nice thing.
I’m trying to get into the spirit at my house, but I haven’t really caught the bug yet. I think the first thing I’ll do to start feeling the season is get two packages ready to send to two special people for the holidays. I’ll also prep to send Christmas cards.
Have you caught the spirit yet?

Today
_______________
My friend Marsha sent me some beautiful stories I’d like to share. Here is one of them –
_______________
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once
Talked about a contest he was asked to judge.
The purpose of the
Contest was to find the most caring child.
The winner was:
1. A four-year-old child, whose next door
neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old
Gentleman’s’ yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his mother asked him what he had
said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, ‘Nothing, I just Helped him cry.’