For the Love of a Shoebill
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Stunning Sculpture
Filed under sculpture
Thoughts on a Sunday 10-3-2021
We received some much welcome rain the past couple of days. My husband is muttering because the rain means our grass will grow and he’ll have to mow again. :0) It was nice. We opened front and back doors, enjoying a beautiful breeze and nice, fresh air throughout. I’m very happy the worst of the summer hot and humid is behind us now.
It was a fight, but we got the “Wonder Wart-Hog” mailbox decoration outline cut out on the CNC table last night. I don’t have a copy of the image we’re using, but I’ll take pics as we progress. We hadn’t done a new decoration for a long time. My husband had to figure out again how to make the program work that converts an image to G-Code, the language the computer can follow. We then had problems because the image was WAAAY too large. We came back in, changed the dimensions, and went back out to the shop, but the computer out there wasn’t seeing the changes. After several times back and forth, he figured out that while he saved the changes, he hadn’t run the “G-code” part of the program again. He did that, saved it, and we went back out. This time things looked good.
We ran the program without the torch turned on to make sure the torch wouldn’t run off the edge of the sheet metal anywhere. We had only part of one 4×8 sheet to use, so if we made a mistake, that would be the end of the project until we were able to go to Ft. Smith to buy more. Happily, it looked like we had a good amount for the image.
We changed the torch tips, then turned on the air compressor and the torch. I’m always fascinated to watch the torch move on its own, moving in a mysterious ‘dance’ over the sheet metal in a magical way, cutting a line trough the metal. We’ve had problems in the past with the torch acting up, but this time everything went well. The torch was going exactly the right speed to cut through the metal like butter.
The next step will be for my husband to make the metal attachment that we use to attach the piece to the mailbox. His hands shake now, so this may be a real challenge – one of the reasons we haven’t made many decorations lately. We are not in a hurry, so I’m encouraging him to do the welding in really short sessions, waiting for a less-shaky day or part of the day. If we can get this done, the next step will be marking the design on the cut out metal.
A young lady showed up at the door last night, asking if we had seen her dog. I’m not sure what kind of dog she had, but the picture showed a medium-to-larger sized dog with brindle coloring. She said her name is Bella. We hadn’t seen her. She left me her phone number. I will text her later to see if she has found her sweet dog.
I hope you’re having a good Sunday.
Amazing Metal Art
Filed under metal art
More Beautiful Squirrel Photos
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Mind – Life
I have felt a bit beaten down by events in the world today plus attitudes. I’m kind of a news-aholic and realized that THAT is part of what has me down. I’ve decided to read and listen in much smaller doses until further notice, just trying to keep up with the highlights, and concentrate on what is RIGHT and BEAUTIFUL in the world.
I’ve found a LOT of beauty on Pinterest. I have to admit that I’m spending a lot of time listening to “Britain’s (and other countries) Got Talent” auditions there. There is SO much talent. I’m hoping that many of these people go on to enjoy new careers because they had the courage to stand up there and give it all they have. I’ve been searching YouTube to see if I can find any of the people I particularly liked.
I’ve also found many stunning artists creating beauty in many different media. I’m trying to share them with you.
Sometimes I fantasize about ‘what I would do if I had power.” I have no illusions. The world is fractured to the point where no one could be a popular leader anymore, but I would CLEAN HOUSE and make lots of changes before I was assassinated. :0)
Since I have no power, I’m escaping a bit.
- I’m writing on my blog
- looking at Pinterest and other websites
- listening to music
- exercising
- working in the yard
- cleaning things
- getting ready to play in my art room again
- reading
- talking to friends
- hugging my husband and pets
- talking to our son online
- trying to see the humor in things
Stay safe and happy.
Filed under Attitude, Dreams, Encouragement
Ah, Glorious Rain!
I’m SO happy. I was sitting in my chair, re-reading a book and sipping coffee, front and back doors open to a nice breeze and suddenly heard the rain. Ah, glorious rain! We really need it.
We went out on the screened back porch (my dog Amber and I) so we could hear it better and smile at each other.
The forecast is for a ‘good chance’ of rain today and an even better chance tomorrow. Hooray!
Filed under Mother Nature
New Month – Different Mailbox Decoration
It was my husband’s turn to choose the mailbox decoration. He chose Fritz the Cat.
Fritz the Cat is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a “supercity” of anthropomorphic animals, the strip focused on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began drawing this character in homemade comic books when he was a child. Fritz became one of his best known characters, thanks largely to the motion picture adaptation by Ralph Bakshi. ~ Wikipedia
Since it is harder for us to get the decorations down from their hangars in the shop these days, we are changing the decorations less frequently. We are focusing on cartoon characters in the hope that they will make kids on the bus smile and maybe bring some nice memories as drivers pass our driveway.
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations, metal art
Split Down the Middle
Today was the first Lunch Bunch since our waitress, Susan, retired. We are all happy for Susan, giving her a good send-off last Friday, her last day, before she started taking care of her grandchildren. She has spent many years working hard, getting up early to go to work, do the prep necessary before opening the restaurant, making pizza dough, cutting up veggies, all the things that need to be done to have the place run smoothly. She’s still getting up early every day, but now will fill her days with life flowing from the plans of the grandkids. She grinned from ear to ear last Friday, clearly relishing the change of focus for her life.
So today we gathered once again. Mikey, our other treasured waitress, took our orders. We talked about the fact that SHE kept feeling that Susan was “just on vacation,” and would be back at work soon. WE kept thinking she would come out from the back, drying hands on her apron, smiling and joking with us.
Things change and we must change with them. Susan has our permanent invitation to join us at the table for Lunch Bunch. We HOPE she’ll take us up on that some Friday very soon. Happy for her, sad for us, resistant to change…
Filed under Challenges, Changes, Friendship
NICE Sculpture
Filed under sculpture
Happy October – Halloween Season 2021
I have such wonderful memories of Halloween when I was a child, back in 1492…
It was before the world changed. Back when I was free to walk by myself half a mile to my friend’s house to play for the day. Back when we actually Trick-or-Treated, dressed up in handmade costumes and going out at night with a group of friends – no parents – to spend a couple of hours gathering as many goodies as possible before we wound our way back home, half sick from eating our ‘spoils.’ :0)
I never wore a costume bought from a store. One of my favorite memories was figuring out what I ‘would go as” (meaning what type of person or character I would emulate) and then figuring out how I could make a costume. My friends did the same.
I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma on one of two streets that ran parallel to each other and were one mile long, called Johannson Acres. Each house sat on an acre and a quarter. Some of my friends had horses, though I never learned to ride.
My friends would meet on Halloween evening and walk to the neighborhood behind us, where the houses were closer together with lots and lots of porch lights on, welcoming us. My favorite treat was a mini-chocolate bar, like Snickers. A close second was anything baked by a wonderful mom.
We would come home laden with goodies, legs tired from all of the walking, grinning from ear to ear, full of stories about our adventures. I was shocked one year to hear that we needed to cut apples in half before eating to make sure there weren’t any razor blades hidden in them – the first memory that the world as I knew it was changing.
Since we now live on top of a ridge line, up a steep driving outside the town, we don’t get any trick-or-treaters. Churches have get-togethers for the kids, or create scary houses for kids and their parents to tour. If you go to town during the festivities, you might see a small group of children, but they are closely followed by a mom in a vehicle. Everyone seems to be in a costume bought from the store. Kids are taught to wait to eat any goodies so that parents can go through everything, throwing out anything baked, or anything that might be suspect before the children get their goodies back.
My ‘celebration’ of Halloween nowadays is search the Net to find the absolutely fantastic job people do on pumpkins and decorations. I am in awe of the creativity and talent shown and will share what I find with you. I’ll also look for children’s costumes that I find clever and creative.
Filed under holidays
A Little Bit of “Awww” to Brighten Your Day
Filed under Embroidery/Sewing Art
Driftwood Art
Article by Laura Caseley – LittleThings.com
Filed under Driftwood Art, vicarious enjoyment, When Wood Comes Alive
Wonderful Baby Elephant Photos
Filed under Uncategorized
Love is All
Filed under Uncategorized
When Do the Endorphins Kick In?
Lately, I have been letting my yard work stand for my time on the elliptical trainer, and just doing my yoga. I’ve sloughed off the exercise with weights, as well. I tell myself that I’m up, working hard in the yard, and that should count for something.
Maybe it DOES in the larger scheme of things, but I DO feel a difference. The yard work is good, but it really doesn’t make me feel like I do when I’ve spent 20 to 35 minutes on the elliptical or done my arm exercises with the weights.
I read about endorphins and the people who wax eloquent about how great they feel after exercise. They are energized, high on life, etc. Sadly, not so for me.
The yoga does stretch me out, something I need more and more as I age. I don’t fold myself into a paper airplane, pretzel shape, or stand on my head, but I DO go through a routine that stretches every part of me. It makes me more flexible. My pain diminishes. I feel good about my efforts and that’s good.
I realize that I may never actually feel an endorphin. Right now I don’t think I would know one if it slapped me in the face, but that’s okay. I would like to look forward to my exercise – at least a little bit – instead of doggedly adding it to my desk calendar and giving myself a gold star when I actually do what I should.
Each day is a new day, though – a new chance to eat right and make myself strong.
Maybe I’ll meet an endorphin today…
Filed under exercise
Kids and Animals 2
Kids & Animals – Hidreley – BoredPanda.com
Handsome Horses
Filed under Acrylic Paintings I Love, Amazing Animals, Driftwood Art, sculpture
Thoughts on a Thursday 9-30-2021
I lost 2 of the pounds I gained from our splurge of the fish lunch from the grocery deli this week. I’m HOPING that I continue to go DOWN now instead of the up-again-down-again results I’ve been getting. Today we’re ending the month before starting a brand new one tomorrow. Maybe that will add to my motivation. I like this quote –
I just finished a nice chat online with our son. The fact that we can touch base whenever we would like, even though he’s across the world from us, means everything. He sent me some pics of a really nice place he found to hike with his friend. Good for body, mind, and spirit.
He’s trying to get me to meditate. I have tried to do it a few times. So far, I sit down in the proper position, close my eyes, and immediately start thinking of what I need to do, start worrying about something, etc. I may be hopeless.
Our weather is glorious today. We’re supposed to have a high of 86 and a chance of rain this afternoon. I’ve been out murdering weeds, spraying with KillzAll. Once I finish with that, I’ll start trying to clean up our flower planters. I hope we have a good, long fall this year, instead of going from too-hot-and-humid to be outside to too-cold-and blustery to be outside. :0) I’ll try to get some pics to share as I go.
My husband and I will start our newest mailbox decoration soon – Wonder Warthog – a favorite comic book character of my husband’s.
We have a different image, but you get the idea.
My to-do list is long today. I’ll try to get the most important stuff done first, in case I poop out before all is accomplished…
Have a wonderful day!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
There is Still Kindness in the World 2
Filed under kindness
Rock Garden 2
Rock Garden – DeWitt ‘Old Dog” and Joyce Boyd
Article by Beverly L. Jenkins, inspiremore.com
Filed under Gardening, Rock Art, Stone/Pebble Art
Movie Recommendation
We watched “Those Who Wish Me Dead” last night and thought it was a good movie. The main star was Angelina Jolie, and she did a good job. I was more impressed by a couple of people I didn’t know – Finn Little and Medina Senghore.
Medina played a policeman’s wife. She dominated every scene she was in. I would like to see more of her movies.
Finn was amazing. He was a child – and usually that’s just an ancillary part, but he was the main point of the movie. The synopsis of the movie is, ‘A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him — and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.’
If you haven’t seen this one, we recommend it.
Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews
Random Acts of Art
Filed under Favorite Things
There is Still Kindness in the World
Man sees a homeless man, stops, opens his luggage, and gives him some clothes.
source- ebaumsworld.com
Filed under kindness
Nothing as Lovely as a Dog
- “Never stand between a dog and the fire hydrant.”—John Peer
Filed under Amazing Animals
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