This is one of the mailbox decorations my husband and I have made over the years. We don’t have it down there now because we can’t GET down our driveway in one piece yet. Hopefully, one day soon…
The World of Snow People
Filed under snow people
Sunday 1-12-2025
I’m feeling a bit ‘bleery’ this morning, trying to wake up. A happy thing is that it’s 33 degrees now, and we might get some melting of the snow today. Today is Day 4 of being stuck up here on top of our ridge line. I THINK we’re still sane. :0)
My husband got an email yesterday from the people from whom he ordered the computer, saying the Motherboard wouldn’t be delivered until Tuesday. That seems to have calmed him down – and certainly, me, too! Hopefully, by then, we might be in a much better situation here.
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I painted the covers of two journals in my art room yesterday. The front and back covers are painted the same. The inside is blank manila paper. They are a nice size for throwing in your purse or backpack. I’ll list them on my Etsy site today.
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I’ve been enjoying our pets’ reactions to the snow. Our yellow lab, Amber, is reveling in running through the snow like a mad thing, smiling from ear to ear. She only stays out for 5 minutes, though, at the most, wanting to come in, be dried off, and rest in her bed.
Jet, aka Monster Cat, WANTS to be outside, but her mean Mama says she is an inside cat. She sits on the window sill in the dining area where she can look out onto our deck. She watched the snow fall past the window in great amazement last Thursday, and is reacting now to birds flying around, trying to grab some seed from the feeders.
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I’m making slow progress on my “clean-out-my-clothes-closet” project. I’m planning to do a session up there today – I’m bouncing between blog posts, exercises, art room, and closet cleaning throughout the day, trying to maintain what might be left of my sanity. :0)
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I think I told you that the ice maker on our fridge stopped working. I made an appt for a tech to come, but then my husband started making unreasonable demands that the tech have everything that might possibly be needed to fix the problem with him when he came. I canceled the appt. My husband finally admitted defeat and the tech is scheduled to come Thursday – assuming he can get up the driveway by then. We’ve been using ice trays and putting them in the freezer of the pantry fridge. We are then transferring the cubes to a plastic bag and putting them in the bottom of the kitchen fridge. That’s a workable solution and I’m delighted. We may have to reschedule the tech, buy a new ice maker, and/or decide to keep going as we are after the tech finally comes and goes.
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My sister-in-law and I email every day to keep up with, and support each other, since we’re each married to a “Lewis man.” We were talking this morning about feeling guilty even talking about things in our lives when so many people across our country are in such dire straights. I think each of us can care deeply, will do whatever we can to help, and have our hearts reaching out to all of them, but we need to keep going, each in our own way, to maintain sanity.
I hope that each of you is well today.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Driveway Tour 3
I’m continuing the tour of our ‘critters’ than my husband and I have made from scrap metal and strewn all over our acreage. The tour started at the road that runs in front of our place, at the bottom of the driveway. If you would like, you can read that first post HERE.
I continued the tour with Lewis Driveway Tour 2.
Today we’re moving around the yard.
The ‘sunflower’ sits on the back edge of our property before it starts sloping steeply down the hill behind our house. This is quite sturdy and is taller than I am.
This is a ‘shovel bird’ who is mounted on the railing of our back deck. He holds birdseed for any visitors.
The “dog with bone” stands close to our ‘watermelon’ propane tank. His head is moveable. I like that because I can turn him so he is looking at you as you drive up to the top of the driveway. :0)
The ‘dragonfly’ is part of a whole group of critters we affixed to the brick at the garage end of our house.
These ’emus’ stand to the right side of the driveway at the top. I love to put colorful flowers in the pots they hold.
The “farmer robot” stands to the right of the garage door, welcoming you to our home.
I call this one a “Patchwork Popadoo Bird”. This photo was taken in our shop, but he now hangs on one part of an old ham radio tower in the yard.
We’ll continue our trip around the yard when I do Driveway Tour # 4. I hope you like our weird critters. :0)
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis projects, Lewis yard art
Current Conditions in Greenwood AR
I finally got out and snapped some pics as I was letting Amber out. It’s a balmy 28 degrees now and quite sunny after ‘freezing fog’ warnings this morning.
This is a pretty snow. I really don’t like it when we’re snowed in, though. The main thing is worrying that someone will NEED to come up here in order to help us and they won’t be able to get up our driveway. OR that we NEED to go down, again because of emergency, and we can’t.
You can see Amber out sniffing around, trying to ascertain what’s happened since she was outside last. She only stays out about 5 minutes, taking care of business and wanting to come in where it’s warm and dry.
This is our deck, and the snow is melting here. That’s the only real place I can find any melting yet, though the temperature is forecast to go above freezing today. Fingers crossed.
I’ve decided to try to cheer myself up a bit over the next few (I HOPE!) snowed-in days by finding snow men and snow people creative people have made, and I’ll share them with you.
If you’re in a cold, snowy area today, stay warm and dry!
Filed under Seasons
Saturday 1-11-2025
18 degrees F. and 10+ inches of snow on the ground. I am having trouble appreciating this ‘winter wonderland.’ We are completely snowed in for the foreseeable future.
I’m worried my husband will get another email telling him that UPS left more packages at the bottom of our driveway, since I know he will insist on retrieving them. Since I don’t want to risk him or the truck, I will then go to Plan B – telling him I will take a trash bag and walk down, retrieving the mail and the packages and dragging the bag back up the hill. I am really hoping right now that the streets are bad enough that the delivery people will delay things…
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Yesterday I had a good inside day. I bounced between writing blog posts and doing my weights exercises, to spending time in my art room, to spending an hour continuing my clothes closet clean-out project, and back again. I also did some reading, listening to music, chair exercises, yoga stretches, and took time for a nap. A good day!
Here’s the latest tee I had to paint due to a stain that was darker and glared at me every time I looked at it. The stain is covered now and I’ll get a good amount of wear out of this tee now. :0)
I did this combination wood burned and painted cat yesterday, too. This photo doesn’t show that the kitty is really sparkly! I’ll list it for sale on Etsy today.
I also found some slim journals I had stashed in my art room and decided to paint two of them. I have the designs drawn and have started painting them.
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I feel so sorry for the people suffering and dying from the wildfires in California. I really cannot imagine losing everything you have like that, having been abandoned by your mortgage insurer, and probably losing the source of your employment as well, and trying to come back from that. Whole communities are gone, houses, schools, churches, shopping, everything. I don’t know how people can survive something like this.
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I hope you weather this day, facing whatever you are personally dealing with, bolstered by inner strength. May we help each other through these challenges the best way we can, and may things get better soon.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Beautiful Birds
Filed under Amazing Animals
I Love These!
Filed under ceramics, Clay Art, Pots by de Perrot
Friday 1-10-2025
Writing to you on my blog is one of my greatest joys. If I’m not writing a post to you, much of the day I’m trying to find wonderful things to share. I love the communication, the feedback, and the friends I make through doing this. Thank you very much for reading my posts, telling me you like things (or wish I would stop doing others) and staying with me. You are truly one of my blessings.
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We are well and truly snowed in now. It started around 11a.m. yesterday and is still snowing. This picture is of our deck, which is covered with a roof. We have about 6 inches on the ground now with more due before it stops. Adding insult to injury, the temps aren’t going to help much, merely making some liquid on top that will melt a bit, then refreeze over the coming days.
Of COURSE my husband got an email yesterday, just after the snow started, saying part of the computer equipment he had ordered had been ‘delivered,’ (meaning left at the bottom of the driveway) and he INSISTED we go down and get it. We managed to get one large heavy box and two smaller ones into the back of the truck and were able to get back up the driveway to our house, but it was a close thing. I think if we had tried it a half hour later, we wouldn’t have been able to get back up. We agreed (I THINK) that we won’t go down the driveway for anything else until things are much safer. (I didn’t have to remind him that his insistence last year before it was ‘safe’ resulted in his broken collarbone and 10 weeks of recovery.)
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I did a first session of cleaning out my closet yesterday. I lasted a reasonable amount of time – for me, with my lack of patience for trying on clothes – and made some progress, bringing down a pretty large stack of things to be included in our next donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. I’ll do another session today.
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In my work in my closet, I found another tee that had a stain that didn’t come out in the laundry, so I’m painting it. I’ll share the results when it’s finished. It’s funny how my sad behavior of spilling food on plain tees results in fun painting sessions. :0)
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I hope that you’re well this morning and that your day is filled with light and laughter.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Dirty Dogs
Amber is 95+ pounds of exuberant yellow lab. She is still shedding all over the place like it’s the middle of summer.
She cavorts around in the cold, absolutely loving it, but wanting to come in and warm up shortly after going out. She has trained me and my husband to let her in and out at her will. We are a bit reluctant to get up out of our chairs at times, but she’s reasonably patient with our efforts.
With the snow coming down now won’t deter her from wanting to go in and out. I have to meet her at the door with a large towel to wipe her down and clean her sweet paws before allowing her to come in – unless she bowls me over first… :0) I now have a towel at the front door and another on the door to our garage.
I guess I should put this in the category of ‘trying-to-move-more,’ because I certainly get my exercise on days like this.
Filed under Amazing Animals
Thursday 1-9-2025
Our snow hasn’t started yet, but some of my sources are saying it will within the next hour or so, and then will be continuous until mid day tomorrow. If they are correct, and the temperatures stay as cool as forecast, we will, indeed, be stuck up here on top of our ridge line until further notice.
I called our medical clinic when they opened this morning to find out if they WERE open and if the lab WAS working today before we scooted out to get the blood test someone forgot to get for my appointment yesterday. After I got the 2nd blood test, we topped off our gas tank and headed for home. We are up on top of our ridge line now we see what happens.
My husband is upset because he has ordered a new computer for me and the packages are due to arrive tomorrow – when no one will be able to get up or down our driveway safely. With my luck, my husband will get emails about packages being left at the bottom of our hill and he will INSIST that he and I try to go down and get them and then try to come back up…. Last time when the ice and snow had cleared all over town EXCEPT for our driveway, we went down, at his insistence, to get the mail. He got out of the truck, fell down, and broke his collarbone. It took him 10 weeks to recover.
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We really enjoyed our crockpot chicken, bacon and cheese dish by Kasey Trenum last night. My husband pronounced it, “YUMMY!” his highest praise these days, and even helped with storing the leftovers and the clean up! I’m giving myself a cooking break tonight, fixing us hot dogs, but tomorrow I’ll make Keto Chili by Suzanne Ryan, a real comfort dinner for sure.
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I’m to the point where I NEED to start going through my closet to try to make sense of things. Since I am finally having better success at trying to lose my lard, some of my jeans are too big. Some of my tops are too large, as well. I’m going to start going through things to bag up a donation for Veterans Thrift Town in Fort Smith when the weather permits. This will be an ongoing project, because my tolerance for trying things on is quite low, but I’m determined to get the closet cleaned out and organized.
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Mother Nature is sure in a snit lately, with the horrendous wildfires in California and then the snow and ice across so much of the rest of the country, with people still trying to recover from the awful flooding that occurred several months ago. So many challenges for good people from coast to coast. I hope Mother Nature gets her nose back in joint and things calm down soon.
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I wish you safety wherever you are today. May we all have the strength needed to deal with whatever life brings.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Wednesday 1-8-2025
There is something about this wonderful painting that calms me and makes me smile at the same time. I just love it!
We leave after lunch for our doctor appointment and then will go to Walmart to get what we need to be as comfortable as possible for when we are snowed in for several days, beginning around noon tomorrow and continuing through afternoon on Friday, according to the latest forecast. UGH. I will be very happy if we are just stuck up here for a while. We had a bunch of trees cut down on both sides of our driveway, hoping to NOT have trees and big limbs coming down from both sides into the driveway. One famous ice storm it took us three days of chain sawing and dragging to clean the driveway enough to drive down to the road. Here’s hoping for just a bit of inconvenience this time.
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At my husband’s request, I’m starting a recipe in the slow cooker before we leave for the doctor. It’s called, “Creamy Slow Cooker Chicken with Bacon and Cheese” by Kasey Trenum of KaseyTrenum.com. My husband absolutely loves this. I increase the recipe each time. :0)
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I think I have admitted that I’m a slob. Many times, though I try to be careful, I inadvertently spill something on the plain tee I’m wearing when I’m eating. Many times I am unable to remove the stain.
So my solution is to paint the tee to cover the stain so I can continue enjoying the tee. About half of my plain tees are now ‘painted’ with one design or another. I’m wearing one now that has a cotton-ball flower type design all over the front.
Yesterday I painted some white birds on my long-sleeved blue tee. Sigh.
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May you enjoy a happy day filled with smiles and laughter.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Needing to Smile-Snort-Laugh
Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs
More Droolworthy Pottery
I want them ALL.
Tuesday 1-7-2025
As a lot of the U.S. is now, Arkansas is forecast to have what is for us, heavy snow and possibly ice, Thursday evening into Friday. Oh, joy. We will go to our doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon, and then stock up at Walmart and Harps on the way home. We’ll probably be snowed in long after the rest of Greenwood thaws and gets back to normal – one of the ‘perks’ of living up a steep driveway on top of a ridge line. I’m already wishing for spring!
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We are doing well, otherwise. My husband got a new suggestion from the tech he was working with about the computer program that was not opening. What she suggested this time worked, so all is good there now. HOORAY!
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Also, I received a notice from Microsoft that they won’t support Windows 10 after October. My ancient computer is not capable of using Windows 11. After some discussion of options, I’m getting a new computer! My husband will put it together, install Windows 11 on it and then we’ll transfer my stuff from my current one to the new. HOORAY – AGAIN.
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I just finished writing a letter to the Sebastian County Road Department in Greenwood, telling them how pleased we are with the work they did. I’m hoping the letter will help the men who did the work and the department as a whole.
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I hope the weather is good – or at least tolerable – where you are. Stay safe and warm.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Bright Idea!
Filed under Bright Ideas, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
The Doodle Lab
Alexandra Lippert – The Doodle Lab – Etsy
This woman offers custom caricatures of your pets. I think they’re great.
Monday, 1-6-2025
I’m having a happy day so far.
We had to leave the house early without food or coffee to get blood work done for our routine doctor appointment on Wednesday. We did errands after that.
I think I told you about my husband being delighted about the county road people cleaning out our ditches. There were trucks at the bottom of our driveway as we left. I talked with one of the men, thanked him profusely for the good job the crew was doing. He said the ‘artist’ of the group was Darryl and that they might be here today and tomorrow to finish up.
We decided to get a gift card for a pizza for the men as a thank you, and got it while we were in town. I found Darryl when we got home and thanked him. Apparently the only time they hear from the public is when they are upset, so my thanking everyone was a real surprise and they seemed touched. I also gave Darryl the gift card. At first he refused, but I just stared at him until he took it. I’ll also write a letter to the department. I don’t know if they put the letters in the employee records or are just pleased, but I want to make sure they know what a good job they are doing.
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It didn’t snow or ice overnight, so we had no trouble getting around. We got our trash down to the bottom of the driveway and no one fell on their head or injured themselves. Now, hopefully, we can relax the rest of the day, though the weather forecast is warning of possible problems on Thursday now. UGH.
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My husband’s projects are beginning to wear me to a frazzle. First, lately, it was the porch camera light bulb. I finally officially gave up. I gave it at least twice as much time as my husband did and we finally decided we could do without it. Second, was the gadget for the TV. After two days of real challenge, frayed nerves, and more, we finally got it installed and working. NOW my husband is having trouble with a computer program called Family Tree Maker. We have used it for years, but suddenly it says it was shut down incorrectly and it won’t open. We were online with a tech all afternoon yesterday, trying to follow her directions. Nothing was solved. I don’t know if my husband will insist we tackle it again today or not. I am needed as the go-between to type, answer questions from either my husband or the tech, try to follow the directions, etc., so I can’t just escape, though it would be nice….
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I finished the etched vase I’ve been working on and just listed it on my Etsy site.
Our day has really flown by and I’m just now able to finish my first post of the day. I’d better get my computer hot! Have a great day!
Dream Fantasy
When I found this photo, I teared up. What a glorious art station! It’s just beautiful, looks like it has SO many supplies all beautifully organized…
I still love it, but reality raised its ugly head and slammed me in the nose. This is a lovely fantasy, and I look at it longingly, but even if I could have this in one part of my art room, it wouldn’t look like this if I started to work at it.
Most of all, I’m a slob. And, to be able to do many of things I try to do, I would need to be able to flatten the drafting board part. And there aren’t any electrical sockets to plug in equipment, nor a place to set a container of water or tissues, or bottles of paint, or….
The list goes on and on, sadly. but it IS a beautiful fantasy, and I’ll keep the picture, just to remind myself how maybe real artists could use it…
Cat Meme 5
Filed under Amazing Animals, Funny Signs - Humor
More Incredible Snow Photos
I think these are incredible photos. As I said before, I love to LOOK at snow scenes that make me appreciate the season and the work of Mother Nature, transforming our world into fantasy. Please, though, LOOKING is enough for me.
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Seasons
Sunday 1-5-2025
I’m feeling really stupid because, in order to start my blog posts in the morning, I really have to check and make sure I have the date correct. One would THINK that I could switch my brain to register January 5, 2025 easily, just moving on without even having to think about it. Not so much. Sigh.
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It’s warm here for January this morning (50 degrees F. right now) and a light rain is falling from very cloudy skies. The bad part is that a cold front is forecast to come through during the day, taking the temps down from here, and possibly bringing snow and ice. NOOOOO! We’re good to stay in today, but early tomorrow morning we need to go get blood work done for a routine doctor appointment Wednesday, and have a couple of other errands to do after. I hope we can get down our steep driveway, get our stuff done, and get back UP again. I really don’t enjoy having to worry about getting snowed or iced in and not being able to keep appointments.
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A happy thing happened yesterday! My husband drove down to get the mail and came up exclaiming, “The road department cleaned out the ditches on both sides of the driveway!” HOOORAAAAAY! I saw equipment in the area last month, and I called to see if they still cleaned out ditches. The nice lady said she would put in a work order, but nothing happened, and each time it rained, our ditches overflowed onto the road. To have it cleaned out and draining again is such a wonderful gift! While we’re out tomorrow, we’ll get a gift card from one of the pizza places and mail it to the road department as a small thank you.
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I’m having fun trying to etch the glass vase in my art room. I finished the basic free form floral design yesterday and will fix up edges and see if I can add more definition to the etching today. :0)
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I hope that your weather is either good or that you’re able to negotiate whatever Mother Nature is dishing out in the coming days. Stay safe.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Too Crazy…
This was sent to me by my friend, Cathy, and it is SO true of me.
I have books everywhere in our home – beside my living room recliner, in the kitchen for when I’m waiting for the stove timer to go off, beside my bed when I’m caught up and can’t let it go, in my art room where I need reference photos or notes I made from a YouTube how-to video, etc.
I love to hold a real book in my hand. I use a Kindle, as well, but it really lacks the FEEL of a book. I love it that I can learn so much from books. I love it that some make me laugh – or cry. I love being able to escape from worries or stress by diving into someone else’s world for awhile.
Books are a necessity in my world.
Filed under Reading is FUNdamental
Just BE
I spend some time on X and Blue Sky each day, mostly posting my blog posts and trying to promote my Etsy website. I’m kind of amazed by the ‘look’ of people on each of these sites.
I think they must strive to show themselves to be a certain kind of person, choosing things to post, showing their beliefs (or what they THINK they should be believing.) I find it difficult to find REAL people who I have any interest in wanting to know better. I’m turned off by the strident ones who are pushing an agenda and wouldn’t listen to a different point of view if their lives depended on it.
Others are obviously trolls, trying to use these as ‘dating apps,’ trying to portray themselves as the perfect male or female. It’s funny how you read the same descriptions over and over. Obviously, they think these work. Maybe they do….
Anyway, being older than dirt allows me to ignore all that stuff, concentrate on what I find good about the sites (the talented photographers, artists, and writers, mainly) and to show people who I am – and take the consequences if they like what I post or not.
Being yourself is a complicated idea. When you’re young, you want to fit in so badly that you’ll fold yourself into a paper airplane and sail across the room, wearing the ‘in’ thing, saying the ‘in’ things as you fly, hoping that people will like the image you’re projecting.
Then you want to be ‘cool,’ again avoiding any idea of being ‘different’ and therefore, somehow, LESS than others. Stuffing down who you are to try to be the person who again fits in, is attractive, etc.
I’m glad I’m me now. If you like ‘me,’ I’m happy. If you don’t, that’s okay, too. The ‘world’s’ opinion doesn’t matter to me anymore. Of COURSE I would really enjoy being liked, or for someone to like something about me, or what I do, etc., but I’m not devastated if I am found to be LESS anymore. I am happy in my own skin. I’m trying to be the best person I can be. I try to enjoy every minute I have, hopefully doing as much of what I would like to do as possible. I don’t want to waste a minute. It’s all good.
Filed under Attitude, empowerment, Encouragement
creativeartworksblog 