Wonderful Palette Knife Art
Filed under Palette Knife Art
More Fun in My Art Room
Latest bleeding tissue paper piece. I’m having SO much fun learning more about this every day!
Filed under bleeding tissue paper art, paper art
W-D 40
I’m pretty dense (aka ‘stupid’) when it comes to exercise. It’s one of the many things I would LIKE to do – wishing I felt the orgasmic high people on TV commercials get while they pump and sweat, looking great doing it. Sad to say, I have to talk myself into exercise. I know it’s GOOD for me, but it’s one of the many lessons I seem to need to relearn over and over.
During our holiday splurge time, I kept finding excuses for not doing my walking, my elliptical trainer, and my yoga. My exercise DVDs sit gathering dust on my shelf in the living room. I’m a slug.
The thing that has finally gotten me doing at LEAST my half hour or so of yoga stretches daily is the fact that my body is hurting. I’m creaky when I get up from my chair and start walking. My back is stiff. My right shoulder seems to be on strike, affecting my movements at odd times.
My reaction to the stiffness and pain has been to move LESS – because it hurts or is uncomfortable. My body’s reaction to THAT is to hurt more. And so the cycle goes.
My brain finally caught up with the pattern and I started doing my yoga stretches. Granted, the stretches are modified right now, but I’m doing them, breathing into the poses, moving slowly and steadily.
Once again, I am re-learning the getting older lesson – “Use it or lose it.”
I’m feeling better each day now. Starting Thursday, I’ll try to do my elliptical trainer every other day. My gold stars are ready to be put onto my desk calendar.
I may be dense, but there is hope.
Filed under Challenges, Changes, exercise, taking care of yourself
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 4
Thanks to a friend’s forwarded email for these wonderful images.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
And the Crowd Goes Wild…
Actually, the ‘crowd’ was my husband, our dog, Amber, and our cat, Abby, and me, but HEY! – you have to take your joy where you can get it.
We have been eating the things we don’t eat at all – or rarely – in the last days before we get serious about getting the lard off again. Yesterday I made a crock pot full of beef stew. And we had rolls with it. Amber and Abby licked our bowls in the kitchen while we were cleaning up.
My husband said two or three times while eating it how good it was, and a couple of times afterward. Then, this morning, he asked if we had leftovers and if we could have more tonight. :0)
As I gathered trash this morning, I got rid of some more things that we shouldn’t be eating in preparation for our getting serious about trying to lose the lard. We should be starting formally, as well as upping my exercising on Thursday. Right now I’m doing yoga stretches, but that’s pretty much it.
We have had a nice long break from doing what we are supposed to do. Part of me is actually looking forward to being in control again. Isn’t THAT a kick in the head!
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, exercise, holidays, taking care of yourself
Can Fish Grin?
I don’t really know, but my fish SHOULD be. Their water is sparkling clean. They have nice decorations in the tank. New filter innards….
They have made it clear over the years that the only thing they really care about is getting fed twice a day. They see me coming, jam themselves into the corner of the tank, wriggle their bodies and blow bubbles at me until the flakes come raining down. Then I am forgotten.
Our aquarium is on the divider between our kitchen and our dining area. This is a high traffic area in our house, so it makes me happy when the aquarium is bright and shiny.
I have made lots of changes on how I take care of the tank and what I put into it, but the fish remain goldfish – and seem to take pride in their reputation as ‘messy fish and champion poopers.’ I used to have a 40 gallon tank with lots of fish. It stayed looking good with relatively little work. THOSE fish didn’t react to me at ALL, so I finally gave the fish and the equipment away. I’M not easy to live with, either, so this is a good match. :0)
Filed under Family, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Just Had to Share
“As A Single Dad, I Had To Put My Foot Down And Tell My Seven Year Old Daughter That There Was No Way She Was Getting A Dog For Chanukah, No Matter How Much She Asked. Anyway, Meet Waffle.”
Denis Tymulis and Rokas Laurinavičius – BoredPanda
Filed under Family
Listen
Filed under Attitude, Favorite Authors & Books, Favorite Quotes, Food for Thought, hope
Palette Knife Art 2
Filed under Palette Knife Art
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 3
Thanks to a good friend who forwarded these wonderful photos to me.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Thoughts on a Sunday 1-3-2021
Actually, the past week was a mixed bag.
THING ONE: FOOD-DIET-EXERCISE – I raked myself over the coals about stuffing too much food into my face and not exercising enough. My sister-in-law kindly told me to give myself a break and make little changes on a regular basis to get back to my better habits. My husband is determined wait to go back on our diet on the 6th – or maybe 7th – we haven’t completely hashed that out yet. I don’t know why we’re waiting. I guess it’s because we still have some wonderfully delicious bad stuff to eat our way through, though I am determined not to buy any MORE of it for myself. I got the makings of beef stew in the slow cooker this morning. We’ll have a bowl of that with a roll this evening. I will do my yoga stretches this afternoon.
THING TWO: WEATHER – Arkansas ran the gamut on weather this past week. We had sunshine and spring-like weather, as we’re having today, with sunshine and low 50’s. We had sleet and rain and gusty wind. We had drizzles and gloomy gray days. We had a PERFECT snow – with HUGE fluffy flakes coming down while we fixed lunch, making us feel we were in the middle of our own, private snow globe. (This was perfect because that gorgeous snow, though heavy, melted as it hit the ground and caused no trouble. :0) )
THING THREE: PLAYING IN MY ART ROOM – I discovered an art form that is new to me – bleeding tissue paper art. The effect is watercolor. The sky is the limit on what you can do with it. I found it on YouTube and watched some demonstrations, drooling. I found some people who do mouth-watering art with it, giving me some really high goals to try to reach as I practice. My sister-in-law sent me a package of large sheets of the special tissue paper to get me started. I ordered some pre-cut shapes in different sizes today that will be delivered in the coming week so I can concentrate on playing, saving the sheets for larger, more complicated shapes. I’m having a BLAST experimenting. :0)
Another thing for which I am setting up is painting some wooden fridge magnets. I can play with my Unicorn Spit paint for these. I can also see what happens with my alcohol inks, my new bleeding tissue paper, and more. I have the magnets, and my wooden circles should be delivered sometime next week.
THING FOUR: SUNDAY CHORES – I don’t have a lot to do today (translated to mean that I CHOOSE to do), but I WILL spend some time cleaning my aquarium so my fish can start the new year with sparkling clean water and some different decorations, just for giggles. I wish I knew what they THOUGHT about the decorations they have. I really wouldn’t mind it if the two of them held their noses when I started to put something in the aquarium they really don’t care for. They don’t say anything one way or the other. The only thing they DO that shows me they are really interested is both of them get into the corner of the tank, wriggling their bodies and opening and closing their mouths to HINT that they would like to be fed yet again. (Seems like they, too, are on a SPLURGE eating push until the 6th or 7th…. )
Have a happy Sunday!
2nd Bleeding Tissue Paper Piece
Bleeding tissue paper on canvas. Then ribbon for the balloons.
Filed under bleeding tissue paper art, paper art
One Joy
I don’t think it’s Pollyanna-ish to choose to focus on what is good, rather than bad, in your life. A positive attitude not only affects how you feel and act, it’s contagious. (A very small example of this is when you choose to smile at people. I have found that most people smile at you in return.) People who answer phones as part of their work are taught to smile when they are talking to people on the phone because you can HEAR a smile over the phone lines or through the air waves.
Of course, you can’t be happy ALL the time. People have been squashed like bugs because someone wants their SHOES – and the same can happen with people who are TOO perky – TOO Smiley – TOO optimistic….
My point is that it is your decision – to a large extent – to be mainly happy with your life (growing, learning new things, embracing new ideas, finding fun ways to spend your time) or allowing your world to implode, (being interested in fewer and fewer things, being whiny, complaining, not trying to reach out and get help, etc.)
I have watched people I love folding into themselves, their worlds getting smaller and smaller, not bothering to try to keep up with what is happening in the world, giving up things that used to bring them joy, not taking care of themselves, becoming brittle in mind and body. It breaks my heart.
Each of us handles aging, changes, and outlook in our own way, and we should be free to do that.
I am choosing to embrace the good stuff – finding things that bring me joy and sharing them however I can. I love it when someone writes, telling me they love a picture I’ve posted, laughed at a joke, encouraged them to try something new. Each of us can try to take something positive and pass it on. Everyone is richer for it. Maybe ‘Pollyanna-ish-ness’ is a survival skill.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Encouragement, kindness
Diet Tip for 2021
I am almost finished eating my way through a lot of the ‘goodies’ (baddies?) I received for Christmas. I put a good amount of things in the freezer yesterday – WAY down deep – under a lot of things – in my chest type freezer in the garage, which is right beside my elliptical trainer. Hopefully, this will give me the perspective I need to stay away from them for the foreseeable future, maybe to enjoy a bit as I reach major weight loss goals in the future.
Most people seem to have trouble staying away from sweets and sugar. I like those things, but my biggest problems are bread, starches, and salty things. I found a recipe for some low carb bread that is pretty good and I’ll make that again. I have riced cauliflower and zoodles in the freezer in individual serving packets, since my husband won’t even CONSIDER eating those as a substitute for rice, macaroni, spaghetti, or potatoes. I am preparing myself to fix HIM some starch and I will eat my meat and sauces over the substitutes. We have a nice variety of good-for-you individual frozen meals from Real Food and from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ in the freezer. In fact, we have been eating several of those each week. I have gathered and cut up some raw veggies to enjoy as snacks. I also have hard boiled eggs and some cheese.
The main sticking point is getting our MINDS set to quit indulging and start practicing adult choices. For some unknown reason, my husband wants to wait until January 6th to start. I really have trouble not eating something when he brings yet another French Toast Fritter into the living room to enjoy between meals.
Heard enough lame excuses yet?
“Diet is coming…”
Filed under DIET!, taking care of yourself
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope 2
Photos forwarded by friend
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Bleeding Tissue Paper Fun
This is my first piece with tissue paper and other mixed media. The possibilities are endless. There are people who are doing truly breathtaking things with this. It’s a lot of fun and the sky is the limit. :0)
Where There’s Love, There’s Hope
Thanks for a friend’s forwarded email.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
Palette Knife Art
Filed under Palette Knife Art
When Wood Comes Alive
Filed under When Wood Comes Alive
Encouragement
My sister-in-law and I communicate every day. (Some ‘glorious somehow’ occurred and we became FRIENDS, rather than just relatives.) She said something this morning that really resonated and I wanted to share it with you –
“It seems like you’ve been sort of beating yourself up about enjoying fun foods during the holidays. I would encourage you to remember all the pounds you’ve lost and kept off as you head into 2021. So you enjoyed yourself for a few weeks? Eating better is always going to be around so enjoy and start to get back on track slowly so you don’t feel deprived. The healthy eating part is important but so is getting some exercise which I know you do with your machines now that working outside is more limited. ……Just saying!!!”
I’ve printed this and put it on my fridge.
If I could bottle my sister-in-law’s kindness and sell it, I would be the richest person on the planet. :0)
Filed under DIET!, Encouragement, exercise
My Wish for You in 2021
My Wish for You in 2021
“May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires.
May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address!
In simple words ………… May 2021 be the best year of your life!!!”
Author Unknown
Filed under .gifs I Love, Favorite Quotes, holidays
I’m Having a Blast
I told you that my wonderful sister-in-law read about my new interest in bleeding tissue paper art, and that she immediately sent me a large package of assorted colors. (I found out that BLEEDING tissue paper is different from regular, wrapping tissue paper. I have no idea HOW. I just found out that regular stuff doesn’t bleed – except for one sheet I had of blue…)
I decided that today was the day to get started. I have a drawing sketched out and just finished putting down the first layer of tissue paper pieces. I’m going to let that dry, remove the pieces, and decide what comes next. There is no real ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about this – another thing I really like about it. You just do what you like and see what happens. Since I love watercolors, I like some of the effects you can get. I also really like mixing media, so it’s possible to get 3-D, textures, etc.
Anyway, I’m having a blast experimenting. :0) If I don’t end up with a COMPLETE mess, I’ll share it when it’s finished.
I hope that YOU are having some fun today, too.
Filed under bleeding tissue paper art
Happy New Year – A Bit Early
I just had the joy of chatting with our son. He lives in Thailand, and so is 12 hours ahead of us. He said the fireworks were starting there.
I also went ahead and started my 2021 calendar, needing the boost of another gorgeous Australian firefighter with sweet animal to start my day. I figure with the way the world is, YOU might need a boost, too –
So, here are Richard and Abigail to welcome us to January 1st tomorrow. :0)
Our weather sucks – it’s 33 degrees F. right now with heavy rain and local flooding forecast for this afternoon through tomorrow. It’s a very good day to have a warm, dry house on top of a ridge line.
I am enjoying watching YouTube video demonstrations of the bleeding tissue paper art technique. I’ve watched two very different techniques, both with stunning results. My wonderful sister-in-law sent me a big package of large bleeding tissue paper sheets in assorted colors, so I spent last night dreaming of things to try with it. I also received 1″ round magnets I ordered that I’m going to try to paint and sell at our local booth. I’ll spend some time watching a few more videos and then go up and start getting my act together to try some new art!
My husband has requested I make chili mac tonight for dinner. I’ll do that – kind of as a ‘last hurrah’ from our ‘hang-the-diet’ eating splurge of the last few weeks. I am talking to myself (I know) – trying to get ready for a new day, new year, ‘new-motivation-for-diet-and-exercise’ frame of mind for tomorrow.
Enjoy your New Year’s Eve celebrations wherever you are. I wish you the very best for 2021.
Rags & Roses – Greenwood AR
This is the booth I share with my friend, Carla, in Greenwood.
I went today to bring some things home, take some new things to display for sale, clean and freshen the booth.
Now it’s all ready for someone to come, like what we have displayed, snap it up and take it home with them. :0)
Filed under Uncategorized
Kidding Myself
At this point I’m limping along, kidding myself about my efforts to get back to my diet and exercise regimen. Suffice to say, I’m not back yet, but HOPE to be soon. (We are still eating our way through delicious no-no’s. )
I am about to leave to do a bunch of errands. I’m leaving the trash for pickup at the bottom of our driveway, getting our mail, changing out the things I’m trying to sell in the booth at Rags & Roses in Greenwood, then stopping at Real Food on the way home to see if I can get more kielbasa frozen dinners.
We’ll eat a quick lunch and then head back out again for more errands and a couple of appointments.
Our weather is deteriorating, culminating with a cold front and LOTS of rain for tomorrow and Thursday, so getting our mail may be all we do until Friday. Since it’s a holiday, Lunch Bunch is called off for Friday, so we may just stay up here, hopefully safe and dry in our house on top of our ridge line, celebrating the new year by ourselves and getting ready to start 2021.
I am happy that we’re about to see the end of 2020. I have high hopes that 2021 will be a much better year for all of us.
AND a year where there will gradually be less and less of a more fit me! :0)
More Luscious Bleeding Tissue Paper Art
Filed under bleeding tissue paper art, paper art
Sky Art by Lan Nguyen
Thanks to Rokas Laurinavicius and Austeja Akavickaite – BoredPanda.com for showing us the sky art of Lan Nguyen.
Filed under Creativity
New Diet
I’m still smiling at this one. :0)
My husband and I are still enjoying our stuff-everything-in-your-face-that-tastes-good mode. We have agreed that we will miss it – and very soon – when we go back to our get-the-lard-off mode.
I have to tell you that the stuff-your-face mode has helped my general ‘downness’ of the past few weeks. The world is such an unhappy place right now, and I can’t see it getting better soon, so a handful of fritos is spirit-lifting – at least for a few minutes.
I will break out my adult pants – if I can still get in them – and deal with what IS soon enough.
In the meantime, would you like a frito?
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, Funny Signs - Humor
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