I listen to both of these over and over. They are both so talented and just fill my heart when they sing. I hope that both of them are very successful.
FUN
I’ve been having a wonderful time for several weeks now, making Christmas presents for my friends. I got the idea for the theme of the presents several months ago, and ideas have been rattling around in my brain ever since.
I finally ordered the materials I needed and began to play as soon as they arrived. I looked on the net for some reference pictures for some of my ideas, and then began drawing my ideas with pencil. There are two sides to each present and 8 friends, so there was a lot of drawing.
I’ve been painting for about three weeks now, having a truly wonderful time in my art room. I’m not in any hurry. My goal is to make some progress on the project each day, but enjoying every minute of the process. I’m about to finish ‘Side 1″ of the 8 presents.
Making time to have FUN each day is important to your soul, your sense of worth, your outlook. It’s a buffer against whatever challenges with which you are dealing, replenishing strength and resilience you’ll need. A time for JOY gives you peace of mind, if only for a little while each day – a coping mechanism that is priceless.
I used to put time in my art room, time for reading, listening to music, playing in my garden or yard, writing this blog on my to-do list WHEN I COULD MAKE THE TIME – if possible when my work and other obligations are under control. Now I consciously make time to at least ONE of the things I love on a daily basis. I feel stronger, happier, and more alive since I switched my priorities.
NOTE: I have to admit (shhhhh!) I felt guilty when my husband came in for batteries for his remote for the TV this morning and had Amber hair all over the front of his shirt from getting down on the carpet to work in the area under the TV in the entertainment center. Looks like I should make time to vacuum the first floor carpet today…. :0)
Fiona Tunnicliffe Pottery
Filed under Clay Art, Fiona Tunnicliffe Pottery
Today’s Harvest 7-17-2022
We had a nice harvest this morning, with more coming soon. The weather has started affecting the quality of the tomatoes with some breaks in the skin, a couple of bad spots, etc., but they still taste absolutely wonderful and we’re spoiled beyond redemption, shamelessly devouring some for both lunch and dinner daily while we can. :0)
Tonight we’ll enjoy a “Main Meal Salad” (chef type salad) with added chicken from Lunch Bunch, so we’re having a nice, healthy day.
Repairs
We’re having a sudden siege of things needing our attention.
Yesterday my husband had to repair the humane trap we use for catching and relocating raccoons who are decimating our birdseed supply. The raccoon not only managed to get out of the trap, but tore out a huge part of the side of the trap in the process. My husband was able to repair it, but it may or may not actually be workable now, due to the extent of the repairs needed.
While the raccoon was ‘visiting’ (and NOT being caught) he trashed our bird feeder, as well. It’s a wooden feeder with plexiglass sides and then some metal on each end to hold suet. The only part still hanging was the ‘roof’. The rest was lying in pieces on the ground. I went to check on my husband in the shop and found him trying to hold several pieces together while getting new screws in through the bottom. I helped him with that and the feeder is now hanging again (minus one of the suet holders that was demolished beyond repair), but empty, until we catch raccoon #8. I suggested to my husband that we might fill the feeder, let the birds enjoy it during the day, and then bring it in nightly onto the porch. He sneered at me, so that’s a discussion we’ll maybe repeat another day…
When we finished morning chores, my husband went to turn on the TV. For some reason, it didn’t want to cooperate, so he spent 20 minutes “messing-with-it,” unplugging and plugging it in again (I WISH I could do that with my BRAIN), changing his remote control batteries, etc. I was in the office, having finally learned to leave him alone while he’s trying to figure out what is wrong. I heard the TV sound, so went in to check. He was calmly watching TV as if there had been no problem. I got only vague answers, so I left him to it, but it looks like ‘messing with it’ worked.
Hopefully, we won’t run into anything else that needs help today.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
1st Gold Star in Awhile
I FINALLY got off my duff and did a good, long yoga session – including some of my new poses from Big Yoga by Meera Patricia Kerr yesterday afternoon. I put a nice, sparkly star on my desk calendar to commemorate ‘the occasion,’ hoping that will motivate me to do it again TODAY.
This amazing lady is NOT me, but I love her ability plus the ‘family’ nature of her exercise. :0)
I felt a lot better when I finished my practice AND I noticed later on in the evening I wasn’t feeling so creaky when getting out of my recliner.
May the star yesterday be the start of a whole calendar FILLED with them!
Filed under .gifs I Love, exercise
Artists and Their Work
Article in VeniceClayArtists.com
Filed under Art Around the World
Canvas
It’s in your hands most of the time. Sure, things happen suddenly that swamp us, but most of the time we can choose how we view and live life.
I made a promise to myself awhile back, to include some joy in every day, no matter what else is happening. My happiness comes from within ME. It’s up to ME to splash some paint around.
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, happy
More Iridescent Raku
Filed under ceramics, Clay Art, Iridescent Raku
Saturday
We’re moving a bit slowly this morning. Amber woke us up three separate times barking last night. When we got up this morning, the humane trap we set for raccoon #8 was empty, the door shut, and the side busted out. So we have no raccoon and a trap that my husband MAY or MAY NOT be able to repair. We still have a raccoon eating our seed and can’t fill up the bird feeders. UGH.
The weather forecast for the next 10 days fits right in with the above. Above 100 degrees – not even THINKING about the heat index – for 9 of the next 10 days. (Only 98 tomorrow). Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings every day.
On the good side, I have some coffee. When I am finally fully awake, I have a good book to read, I can play up in my art room, I can take a nap if I need to later, I can write on my blog, we have air conditioning, and I can exercise where it’s cool. Not much to complain about after all…
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Art by Joseph
Filed under metal art, snow people
Stupid Signs – Even More!
Funny Signs – Giedre’ Vaiciulaityte – BoredPanda.com
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
MarjansArt
Filed under Watercolors I Love
Milk and Cookies
We’ve been moving toward the Mediterranean eating plan for several weeks now. I’m having to do my own version of it since my husband would definitely leave me (yes! after 53 years!) if I started serving him meals with eggplant, Brussels sprouts, quinoa, black olives, chick peas, ‘zoodles,’ etc.
I’m concentrating on adding as many of the veggies he WILL eat (or I can sneak in) as possible to soups, stews, casseroles, salads, and side veggies. We are also eating some of the healthier frozen dinners (both of us are avoiding sugar, and Healthy Choice Steamed Bowls are heavier on the veggies for me).
I’m feeling better all the time after having my whole digestive system out of whack due to too much fat for my body with its lack of gallbladder, (with my lack of thyroid a complicating factor) and then my system going nuts. The concentration on less meat and more veggies is working well for me now, though the weight is not coming off yet. I figure that eating healthier is first, learn to either skip or choose my afternoon snack very carefully, and THEN I’ll worry about the lard.
Most of the diet articles figure that their readers are craving sweets. That isn’t my problem, although I do enjoy them when I can get them. My problem is I love salty foods. Though I try to limit added salt, I would salt my SALT if I had total freedom. One step at a time….
Filed under DIET!, Mediterranean Eating Plan + Recipes
Friday Love
awwwwww.
Filed under Amazing Animals, love, your 'awwww' for the day
Thoughts on a Friday 7-15-2022
I just love this photo. I WANT this sweet animal!
As far as I know, everyone will be at Lunch Bunch today. It’ll be a nice reunion. We have a few errands to do, but won’t be out long.
I’m having a lot of fun in my art room, working on the presents I’m painting for my friends for Christmas. I’m making 8 things, and I’m almost finished with some of the first sides. Apparently I smile while I’m painting – I’m finding my cheeks are hurting a bit in the evenings. :0)
I’m going to do an extra-long session of yoga this afternoon. I missed it yesterday and my body is reminding me about it today. You would THINK that after so many RE-learnings of this lesson, the message would stick. All I can say is I’m fighting sloth, stubbornness, and stupidity – a pretty lethal combination.
This morning’s harvest. We went into withdrawal yesterday because we didn’t have any ripe tomatoes from our garden to eat. Today makes up for yesterday, with more coming, probably tomorrow. YUM.
Hoping for a safe, quiet day for all of us.
My 2nd All-Time Favorite Performance
Brandon Leake changed America’s Got Talent forever by performing his original poetry. Simon Cowell admitted before Brandon started that he essentially didn’t ‘get’ poetry, understand or like it. Brandon smiled and quietly said he would introduce poetry to Simon.
My favorite is his first performance, but you might be interested in watching the whole video. He is a true artist, changing lives. I didn’t want you to miss him.
The URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ZuF45EXcU&t=5s&ab_channel=TalentRecap if the arrow above doesn’t work.
One of My All-Time Favorite Performers
Merrick Hanna was 12 years old in 2017 when he did an original dance performance for America’s Got Talent. I saved the video then, totally blown away by his talent. I still watch it from time to time and react the same way each time. I hope he finds no limits in the appreciation of his talent and creativity.
This is the URL if the arrow above doesn’t start the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wE79Bkgyak&ab_channel=Popcorn
Filed under Videos
Mary Philpott Ceramics
Filed under ceramics, Clay Art, Mary Philpott Ceramics
Fun in My Art Room
Each afternoon I’m spending time in my art room, working on the presents I’m making for my friends for Christmas. I try to make progress on two of them each day, waiting for paint to dry on each before the next step. I’m making 8 presents, and each is different, so I’m taking my time and really enjoying the process.
We converted a third bedroom to be my art room several years ago. I go up there, shut the door, turn on music I don’t listen to anywhere else, and start experimenting, immersing myself in color, determination, hope, and fun.
Even when all I create is a mess, the time there is well spent. I emerge refreshed in spirit, free and happy. I’m very lucky to have a space like this.
Filed under playing in my art room
Heh, Heh, Heh…
We are foiled once again in our efforts to catch racoon # 8 in our humane trap. He ate the seed all around the trap, but didn’t go inside. We are frustrated, but persistent. The birds will be happy when this one is caught and we fill up their feeders again.
When we went to do errands the other day, we had to slow down to give two young deer room to run along-side us and decide if they would then run into the woods or try to cut in front of our truck. Happily, they ran into the woods.
To finish off our ‘wildlife report,’ there were two white-tailed rabbits who sprung out of the way in huge leaps across the grass yesterday when I walked out to check the garden. Living outside the city limits exposes you to a whole life full of possibilities and joy.
Now I’m fighting happy tears. My husband is at his computer across the room from me. He asked me to check an email he was going to send to our son, who had written to him via email because my husband hasn’t taken the time to write to him on the chat program our son set up for us.
Several times a week our son says to me, “Please tell Dada I love him.” I always do. It isn’t the same as hearing from someone directly, though, so our son reached out more directly to him, thanking him for all the time and effort he spent teaching him about computers and programming, etc. He was thanking him for making it possible for him to enjoy the lifestyle he has now.
I teared up reading his email. And then again, when I read my husband’s answer. I talked to him about how lucky we are that we’re close to our son – other than in geography – and how special the love is between our son and him. I told him that I see so many people just doing ‘duty’ things, or not feeling close at all. We’re lucky that our son not only FEELS the love, he reaches out to give it back tenfold. My husband has been a wonderful dad and is now reaping some well-deserved rewards. Simply beautiful and overwhelming.
Filed under love, Thoughts on a ________
Downton Abbey – A New Era
I finally got my rental of this movie after waiting for what seemed like forever. I’m probably the last person on the planet to see this, but just in case, I wanted to make sure you had the chance.
If you didn’t like the series, don’t bother with this movie. If you loved the series, as I did, it’s more delicious icing on an already perfect cake.
My main feeling was that it was more a ‘reunion’ than a stand-alone movie. It was a celebration of seeing faces you had come to love and hear the voices you had missed. The writers did a good job of introducing some new things while taking care to tie off many loose ends.
As usual, I both laughed and cried. I can’t really relate to all the wealth and their extravagant lifestyle, but the rich characters transcended that technicality. I feel a sense of closure now that I didn’t before.
The movie is well worth your time.
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
Bryony Jennings Textile Art
More Button Art
Filed under Button Art
Book Bliss
One of my all-time favorite books is The Help by Kathyrn Stockett.
“The Help is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project — one that breaks society’s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with poignancy, humor and hope — and complete with compelling, never-before-seen bonus features — The Help is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change.” ~ Amazon
Kathryn Stockett drops you into the middle of lives you may have known peripherally, but may not have appreciated enough. However much you THOUGHT you knew, you will learn and appreciate more. This book made me laugh aloud. It also made me cry. I was afraid for the risks they were taking and how much they had to believe in the project and trust Skeeter in order to go through with it. It is written with love. You will be a different person when you finish it.
Filed under Favorite Authors & Books
Good Morning!
Happy Wednesday!
We started our day off at around 1:30 a.m. this morning when Amber started barking. She did this two or three times before she finally settled down for the rest of the night. The next thing we knew, our driveway pad alarm went off several times in succession early this morning, usually indicating a vehicle. We got up and dressed, but when we checked outside on the garage pad and then at the front door, there was nothing.
We tried, but failed, to catch raccoon #8 overnight. That was probably what had Amber barking. The trap had been triggered. The seed was all gone, but no one was inside the humane trap. So we’ll set it again tonight and hope for the best.
There was a wildfire between Fort Chaffee and one of Greenwood’s neighborhoods north of us yesterday. Fire departments from several surrounding towns helped to try to contain the blaze. About 35 homes were evacuated. The fire is about 80%+ contained this morning. No damage to houses. No people hurt that we know about. Scary.
I’ve had TWO character-building exercises over which I have been victorious so far this morning –
- I was trying to call in a refill for one of my husband’s medicines, but the pharmacy was having some kind of a phone problem, then I got a recording, and FINALLY reached a real person and was able to request our refill. Only took about 5 calls over 90 minutes, but I prevailed. :0)
- I was attempting to pay some bills online yesterday. When I tried to log in, I was told my username or password was “incorrect.” I fought with it several times, finally deciding to give it up until today. Sometimes these things heal miraculously, and so I had hope. No such luck. They still didn’t like me this morning. I finally went through the process of saying I ‘forgot’ my password, jumped through several hoops on proving I was who I was, including a text sent to my phone, and was finally put onto a page where I could change my password. THEN I fought with all the requirements they had on a new password. I finally passed muster, was let into my account, and was able to pay the bills. WHEW!
We’ll do errands in awhile, but nothing exciting going on today – I HOPE. I’ll be very happy if I can do what I’d like to do with no drama. I would LIKE to continue painting my Christmas presents for friends, do some vacuuming, and read my current book….
Happy Wednesday!
Angry!
- We have another raccoon (#8) and he trashed our feeders after eating all the seed last night. Amber woke us up barking at him.
- My husband INSISTED we NOT leave our trash at the bottom of the drive when we were leaving for errands. He was insistent that the guys don’t come until afternoon and the animals would get our trash and leave it all over for us to pick up again. We got home to find all the trash cans in our area empty. They had come and gone and we still have our trash. It is now back in the garage to wait until we put it out NEXT Tuesday, along with the trash we gather between now and then….
- We were sleeping happily after lunch and the phone rang. We have an answering program that asks the caller if ‘he is human and is NOT selling anything” to push a button before we hear it ring. It turned out to be someone asking ‘for the business owner.’ I asked if he spoke English. He said, “yes.” I asked if he listened to the message on the phone. He said, “yes.” I asked him if he REALLY thought that I would buy anything he was selling when he listened to the message and pushed the button anyway. He was silent. I waited several seconds and then hung up. Too angry to try to go back to sleep, I’m up now and ready to bite someone in the leg. Watch out.
Filed under Favorite Pictures
creativeartworksblog 