Simon Brown Brush/Felt Art – thegentlemanfelter / Instagram – BrightSide.me
Friday, September 3, 2021
My hair is blowing as I realize we’re at the end of another week and we’ve started September. We will leave for Lunch Bunch soon. I love seeing my friends’ faces, hugging their necks (vicariously – with Covid), and sharing a meal, seeing with my own eyes that all remains well.
Since the main people who pass our driveway these days are the kids who ride on the school bus, we will concentrate on displaying the decorations we hope they will enjoy. We will put up Godzilla today.
When we get back from Lunch Bunch and a few errands, I’ll check the dragonfly in the shop to see if he’s ready for us to put back up on the side of the house. I’ll also check the Christmas presents that I think are finished and ready to come inside. I THINK all is finished, except for painting on some polyurethane for protection.
I will make a chef salad with chicken left from our lunches today for dinner tonight.
I’m HOPING our weather forecasters are right with chances of rain tomorrow night into Sunday. My husband is smiling because he’s only had to mow once lately, but our plants could really use a good soaky rain. In CASE they’re right, I need to check our tomato plants and do some weed whacking today and tomorrow.
On the start of this Labor Day Weekend, I think of my dad, who was born – he said ‘quite appropriately’ – on Labor Day. My parents have been gone a long time now. I still feel them encouraging me to enjoy each day the best I can.
I hope that you enjoy YOUR Friday, too.
Filed under Family, Friendship, Thoughts on a ________, Tribute
Stone Art
Filed under Erzsebet Szilajka, Stone/Pebble Art
Delightful Drawings
Filed under drawings
Fun ‘Found’ Art
Filed under Art From Found Things
Glass Art I Love
Filed under Gorgeous Glass
Good Start to the Day
(The above is NOT what I’m making for my friends, but the picture make me smile. What FUN this child has had, thinking of something and trying to make it come to life.)
Since our heat index here in Arkansas is forecast to be 110+F. this afternoon, , I decided to get my body moving earlier than usual this morning and get out to the shop to continue work on the refurbishment of the dragonfly plus working on my Christmas presents for friends.
I’m working on the eyes of the dragonfly now. I cut a black rubber ball with knobs on it in half and glued them on the dragonfly. Now I am using glitter glue paint to try to make the ‘eyes’ sparkle. I finished the main part of the work on the 6 Christmas presents out there. As soon as they dry, I’ll work on the accents and finishing touches. Upstairs in my art room, I think I’ll finish the 3 other Christmas presents I’m working on up there today. I love it when I figure out what I want to try to do early and have lots of time to work without feeling rushed. I find myself remembering lots of happy times with each of the people I’m making a present for, hoping they’ll enjoy the gift. :0)
Since today is the first day of September, and kids are in school here now, we will change the mailbox decoration, hoping to make the bus riders smile as they pass our driveway. Here is the decoration we’re putting out today –
Have a happy first day of September!
Let Them Eat Cake
One of our dear friends from Lunch Bunch decided to be really, really nice and bake my husband a cake. It wasn’t his birthday or any occasion. She baked him what she calls a ‘Mt. Dew’ cake. She has done this before, several years ago. It was absolutely delicious, but he’s a Type II diabetic (although he denies that and says he has a sugar problem). She couldn’t figure out how to get the cake to turn out right without sugar, so that was that.
This big beautiful cake was sitting at my husband’s place at the big table at Lunch Bunch Friday. My husband being thoroughly himself took out his pocket knife and immediately cut himself a piece, ate it, and pronounced it, “delicious.'” He didn’t share, also being consistent, cutting off a second piece and eating it. Our friend explained that she had finally figured out how to make it sugar-free, maintaining the consistency. There was a cup of real Mt. Dew, which does have sugar, but a cup in a big sheet type cake isn’t much.
My husband was telling me on the way home that we would have to throw out the rest of the cake, since he isn’t supposed to have sugar. I again explained that the cake was sugar-free, with only one cup of Mt. Dew in the whole thing. He got it that time and we have enjoyed a piece of cake each evening since. And it IS delicious.
It is NOT calorie-free, however, and my indulgence has my scales not only smirking, but laughing at me with its hand over it’s mouth. We finished it last night, thank goodness, so today I will be a good girl. I’m drinking a glass of water as I type this. :0)
Filed under DIET!, Friendship
Hold On
As we continue to hear bad news from all sides, we concentrate on anything we can do, as individuals, to help – either at the source of the bad news or the people reeling from it. We try to stay calm, keep our heads on straight, our hearts open, and keep on keepin’ on.
Filed under caring
More Fine Art by Bethany Kerr
Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings, paintings I love
Christmas in August/September
This year I’m trying to make something for many of my friends for Christmas. I’m having a good time, going out to our shop each morning to work on some of the presents, plus repainting the dragonfly metal/glass critter that lives on the side of our house. It was down to the bare metal on a lot of the framework for the wings, so it’s taking many coats of paint to refurbish it. I think I have the underside done now, and I’ve started on the side that shows when it is hung up.
In the afternoons, I’m working on more presents up in my art room. I feel good, not feeling rushed, but making steady progress on everything.
The presents are coming along. At least my friends will know I spent a lot of time thinking of them and trying to do something unique for them. :o)
Dog Days of Summer
Filed under Amazing Animals
Diet Stagnation
My scales are laughing and me and smirking. I’m not getting on them every day, since I’m juggling two pounds back and forth over and over. I’m continuing to concentrate on one day at a time, watching what I’m eating and doing my exercises of weights and yoga MWF, and elliptical trainer and yoga T-Th-S.
I’m going back this morning to MyFitnessPal.com I had figured since we are eating mainly good, real food with portion control from Real Food and Stu’s Clean Cookin’, I didn’t have to do that, but I’m going to start it again to find out for sure how many calories I’m eating.
Dieting with my husband complicates things. He is very happy with what we’re doing now, and that’s very important to me. If I were by myself, though, I would be doing keto.
The MyFitness Pal will give me a better idea of what I’m consuming versus my exercising, so hopefully that will help.
Love Makes Us Stronger
Filed under love
Sunday 8-29-2021
I’m afraid for all the good people trying to get out of Afghanistan. My heart breaks for those left behind. This is an unending nightmare from which we will probably never recover. We have all lost so much already. People in pain over the situation, the incredible lack of planning, bad decisions, broken promises, loss of life, the desperate prospects on trying to get out, what we’re leaving for the people behind. Incredible bravery in the face of all this.
The people in Tennessee are trying to pick up the pieces after the devastating flooding. Relentless wildfires in California continue to wreak havoc. Ida is bearing down on the Gulf Coast today.
Each of us reacts on a personal level to all happening around us. Things boil down to each of us handling things in our own little world the best we can, plus reaching out to try to help others. The cliche’ is that ‘we’re all in this together.’ Our world is small enough that things happening across the world affect us. As we have painfully seen, a virus starting far away is lethal to people all over the globe.
We need to concentrate on being aware of what is going on, protecting ourselves and those we love the best way we can, and reaching out to others – if not able to help – to at least show we CARE. We can’t put our heads in the sand. We can’t just simply close off. We have to be as strong as we can and be there to do what we can when we see a way we can help.
Filed under Challenges, Changes
Animal SnapChats
Animal SnapChats – Giedre Vaiciulaityte – BoredPanda.com
Filed under Amazing Animals
Matt Wilson Metal Art 3
Filed under metal art, spoon - cutlery - art
Animal Friendships 6
Animal Friendships – Jonas Grinevicius and Mindaugas Balciauskas – BoredPanda.com
Filed under animal friendships, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Love is All
Filed under love
More Gorgeous Glass
Filed under Gorgeous Glass, Stained Glass Art
Simon Brown Brush-Felting Art
Simon Brown – Brush/Felting Art – via BrightSide.me – thegentlemanfelter/instagram
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