Spectacular Embroidery Art
Happy Saturday 7-23-2022
I hope your Saturday is off to a good start.
It’s supposed to get to 105 F. actual temperature here this afternoon, so we’re planning to stay inside for the most part.
I made spaghetti last night, using Rao’s for the sauce base. My husband won’t even consider eating ‘zoodles’ (zucchini spiralized), so I sneakily used Banza Spaghetti (made from chickpeas -shhhhh!) It’s better for us in several ways. My husband complimented the spaghetti, even asking if there was enough for leftovers. :0)
Today is
- laundry day,
- change the sheets day,
- pay the bills day,
- play in the art room day,
- yoga practice day,
- listen to music for awhile day,
- read part of a book day,
- maybe take a nap day,
- vacuum the equivalent of another dog from the tiles and carpet day,
- enjoy life day.
Enjoy your Saturday!
I Like These Paintings
Filed under paintings I love
Ahhhhh!
Crossing all of my appendages – including my eyes – worked! We finally got a bit of rain yesterday evening! It was mostly gusty wind and bluster, but the dining area windows finally had water on them. I don’t know how much rain we actually got, but we’ll take it. The high is only supposed to be 97 this afternoon. I may take my coat! :0)
We’ll get our mail, go to Lunch Bunch to catch up with our friends, then drive to Ft. Smith to return my “too-large!” tops to the UPS Store, and finally hit Walmart on the way back.
I’m starting to see the end of my project to make Christmas gifts in my art room for my friends. I think I’ll finish in the next day or two. It’s been a wonderful time with lots of happy thoughts.
Today will be DAY 6 on my daily yoga practice. My sweet SIL pointed out that building a new habit MIGHT take as little as 18 days. That sounds a lot less intimidating. I’ll still just keep my head down and do one day at a time until it becomes ‘automatic,’ – assuming I live that long…
I hope that you have an enjoyable Friday and a fabulous weekend.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Fingers Crossed!
I just came down from my art room. The sky is dark, the tree branches are blowing around. We’re hearing a bit of thunder. We THINK (HOPE) we’ll get a nice rain. Fingers crossed!
Filed under Mother Nature
“Love” is Spelled, “D-O-G”
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx
“No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does.” – Christopher Morley
“My fashion philosophy is, if you’re not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.” – Elayne Boosler
“Dogs have boundless enthusiasm but no sense of shame. I should have a dog as a life coach.” – Moby
“All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.” – Charles M Schulz
“They [dogs] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.” – Jerome K. Jerome
“The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.” – Samuel Butler
“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.” – Roger A. Caras
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
Rich in Tomatoes
This morning’s harvest.
As you can see, we have breaks in the skin now, due to erratic watering. We water for 10 minutes daily, but with the hottest streak of weather we’ve had in a decade or more, and the lack of rain we’ve had lately, there just isn’t enough water to make the plants happy. I don’t know if we’ll lose the plants or not.
If Mother Nature chooses to continue to be harsh, we’ve still had a lovely harvest and have enjoyed lots of delicious tomatoes for lunches and dinners and can’t complain. We do have a streak of greediness, though, and hope we can pull the plants through and enjoy more tomatoes.
Good Thursday 7-21-2022
I have a nice book. We certainly have the heat (105 F. today with a heat index of 110+). All I’m missing is the beach!
I even have a photo of beautiful sandpipers!
Thankfully, we have good air conditioning and only go out if we choose to.
Yesterday was a wonderful afternoon. We ate our lunch and relaxed a bit after errands. I did an early session of yoga, since the wonderful bug spraying guy was coming at 5:30. I then went up and played in my art room, making good progress on the presents I’m making for friends. I finished up there and was coming down, meeting my husband on the stairs. He was coming up to tell me the buy spraying guy was here. He does such a good job for us, although he won’t spray for elephants…
I had a very unusual thing happen. I ordered some new tops recently. (That isn’t unusual, but the result was.) I tried one of them on this morning and they were WAAY TOOO LARGE! This IS unusual! We will take them to the UPS Store today or tomorrow so that I can obtain a refund and then I’ll reorder, ordering two sizes smaller. (I have the feeling this brand runs really large, but it feels really good to have something be too large for me to wear. :0)
I hope you have a terrific Thursday.
Beautiful Wood Art
Filed under When Wood Comes Alive
Trying to Form Habit
I’m TRYING to form a new habit of doing a yoga session every day. My body has informed me that I NEED to do this or I stiffen up and get and stay sore. Even with that ‘proof,’ I find myself making excuses.
Today is DAY 5 of doing my renewed daily practice. I just looked up forming a habit. I’ve found – “It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.” This sounds intimidating, so I’ll just do it one day at a time – giving myself one sparkly star on my desk calendar each day, and see what happens.
My husband is trying to be supportive, though he was under his throw in his recliner, drinking a sugar-free soda, eating an oatmeal-raisin cookie and had a bag of Fritos to dive into next, while watching me.
I’m pouring over the Big Yoga book by Meera Patricia Kerr, finding several poses I’m trying to add to the practice. It takes me awhile to absorb a pose if it has several parts, so progress there is slow.
I’m proud of myself that I finished my practice well before our bug spraying man is due here today. :0)
Filed under exercise
Quiet Wednesday 7-20-2022
I’m starting to see some good differences on the scales finally. That has been lower on my list since we changed from low-carb to the Mediterranean eating plan recently after my system got out of whack and I had to focus on getting my health back and eating differently. All is good now and I can focus on only stuffing GOOD things in my face (using moderation), doing my yoga practice daily (4 sparkly stars in a row on my desk calendar now), drinking lots of water (trying to drink 3 bottles of water daily), and generally trying to stay out of trouble. :0)
Yesterday was ‘bug day’ around here. I’ve been annoyed by gnats flying around me lately. Yesterday I was working at the computer and a WASP landed on my leg! I leaped up, got the fly swatter, and the NEXT time he was in the area, I beat him to a pulp before disposing of his corpse. :0) I noticed something on the floor just under the buffet in the dining area. When I leaned down to see what it was, I found a scorpion! It was a DEAD scorpion, but one can’t be dead enough for me. I picked him up with the forceps we keep on hand (fearing he might be playing possum) and disposed of him, too. I then called Tri-Hill Pest Control in Fort Smith and our good tech will come out late this afternoon to spray inside and out.
Today we actually have a CHANCE of rain! We MIGHT get an isolated shower or two! I have all appendages crossed, since it’s ALSO supposed to get to an all-too-hot temperature with a heat index of 111 this afternoon. If we get the rain, you can be sure I’ll take the time to go out and dance in it.
We’re going to leave in a bit to get our mail and replenish our food supply at the local grocery. My husband tried a new Healthy Choice frozen dinner last night, “Pineapple Chicken,” and he wants to get more. He has also requested another ‘tuna casserole’ (with extra veggies) that I made recently. I’m also trying several different salmon recipes.
I hope that your Wednesday is a satisfying one.
I Love Iridescent Raku
Filed under Clay Art, Iridescent Raku
It’s Just TOO Many TOO’s
It’s hard to keep up with all the Heat Advisories, Excessive Heat Warnings, Red Flag Alerts, Burn Bans, etc. around here. We’re under all of them today. It’s an actual temperature of 105. Who knows what the heat index is. All I know is that it’s just TOO everything and I’m really grateful I can stay in the air conditioning. I got out and checked our tomatoes and took the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, but otherwise, I’m IN.
My husband drove down to get the mail a few minutes ago and said the trash was still down there. I’m really HOPING the good trash people come and take it away. With our luck, it’s too hot for their trucks, too…
I’m going to go for sparkly star #4 for my yoga session. I hope you’re staying cool.
Filed under Mother Nature
Mary Philpott Ceramics
Filed under ceramics, Mary Philpott Ceramics
Tuesday 7-19-2022
Today we woke up to our dog, Amber, going nuts in the utility room where she sleeps. My husband went downstairs first, letting her out. The barking increased. I thought we had finally trapped raccoon #8. It turned out to be a squirrel, who probably was trapped this morning, since they are early risers. We’ve never caught one before. Instead of letting it out and getting on with business, my husband decided to sit on the deck watching the squirrel and listening to Amber go nuts. The barking makes me crazy, so I asked my husband if he was going to let the squirrel out. He just said, “In awhile.”
I did the morning chores as quickly as I could because the noise was really getting on my nerves. When I finished, I came into the office, as far away from the barking as I could get. Finally it stopped. Amber came in panting like a fiend and drinking water. My husband left me alone for awhile – smart man! – and then brought me a cup of coffee. I’m giving both of them a wide berth this morning, still teed off that the morning started so unpleasantly.
I took our two weeks worth of trash down to the bottom of our driveway, so I’m sure it’s out there early enough – just not sure they’ll take all of it. Fingers crossed.
The heat index will be 105 today. It’ll be the same, with little or no rain, until further notice, the weather people say. We’re under a burn ban and actually had a wildfire north of us recently. Happily, it was controlled before it burned any houses and no one was hurt. We’ve had heat waves before, but usually in August. It’s disconcerting that the heat is so relentless early this year. It will be amazing if anything lives, even with our irrigation systems working now.
I’m hoping for a nice, quiet afternoon. I wish the same for YOU. :0)
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
“Normal” is SUCH a Beautiful Word
“Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland situated at the base of the front of your neck, just below your Adam’s apple. Hormones produced by the thyroid gland — triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) — have an enormous impact on your health, affecting all aspects of your metabolism.” -Mayo Clinic
The above is an enormous understatement. Your thyroid controls almost everything. If it makes too little hormone, you have bad problems. Too MUCH, more problems. If it goes completely out of whack, like mine did several years ago, you’re almost incapacitated. Mine was GUSHING hormone and I had the choice of radiation or surgery. I had mine radiated and I have NO thyroid now. I take a medicine that takes the place of my thyroid, supplying the hormone to regulate everything. Tests are needed, plus monitoring, to make sure the dosage stays right.
When it gets out of whack again, it takes WEEKS – if not more – to find the proper dosage. The complicating factor is your brain, which decides how it FEELS about the amount of hormone it’s receiving. It’s different for everyone, and the dosage doesn’t STAY good forever. (It took a full year of tests every 8 weeks and changes in dosage to find the proper starting one for me at the beginning.)
8 weeks ago I went in for my routine doctor appointment. I always get a blood test several days before so we have results to look at. Normal thyroid (TSH test) is 0.40-4.50. Mine was 22.89!!!!! Our doc looked at the meds I was taking and spotted two new things that were over-the-counter medicines I was taking trying to get my digestion working right again. She thought these two meds might be nullifying my thyroid med. She suggested I take the thyroid med first thing – no food or drink other than water for at least an hour afterwards. I have done that for 8 weeks and then had a follow-up test yesterday. I’m so thankful that I have such a smart doctor. She was right about what was causing my problem. Yesterday’s test showed my level “normal” at 0.55. My bad symptoms are gone now. I’m really relieved.
Filed under taking care of yourself
Nice Afternoon
I’ve had a very nice afternoon.
I turned on the a/c upstairs – it’s 104 F. actual temperature – who knows what the heat index is – and painted for a couple of hours this afternoon. Things are definitely coming together on the Christmas gifts I’m painting. I listened to some of my favorite music while I painted and had a great time.
I came downstairs and was going to read, but ended up asleep in my recliner with the book on top of me. :0) I feel much more rested now.
Then it was about 5:00 and I hadn’t done my yoga practice for the day, so I did that, and earned my sparkly star on my calendar.
Now I’m enjoying time on my computer and will soon fix dinner for us.
NICE afternoon.
Filed under exercise, playing in my art room, Reading is FUNdamental
Delectable Driftwood Art
Filed under Driftwood Art, When Wood Comes Alive
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