December 28, 2019 · 12:48 pm

Thoughts on a Saturday 12-28-2019

We just changed the decoration on our mailbox from Santa to Happy New Year.

We love Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson, so we have made two mailbox decorations to honor his great work and sense of humor.  This one appeals to us because we have never been the nostalgic “Auld Lang Syne’ types at New Years.  At our age, we just got used to writing ‘2019’ on our checks and now we have to think again before writing… :0)

I just finished adding my hand painted wooden earrings to my new Etsy shop – EyecatchingEarrings. I can’t decide if I need to work on a banner to go across the top of the page or not. If you have the time to take a look, I would appreciate your opinion.

As we came in from getting the mail and putting up the new mailbox decoration, I was appalled to see dog hair balls on the floor that were blowing in the breeze we made as we walked by. This tells me two things:

THING ONE – I need to get up off my duff and VACUUM, and

THING TWO – I need to defurminate Molly again.

I absolutely will do thing one and will TRY to do thing two.

I hope that your Saturday is a good one!

 

 

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December 27, 2019 · 9:45 am

Thoughts on a Friday 12-27-2019

Photographer Unknown via Penny Yaffe Krakow

I’m especially happy today.

I’m excited about sharing a booth in a local shop with one of my best friends. It’s fun to see what sells, to plan what I want to add to the shop, to make new things for it. The owner of the shop is Joanna Brandt, and the shop’s name is Rags & Roses Collective. She has divided the shop into booths so that lots of people in the area have a chance to show and sell their wares. Our booth is called, “Blasing Bright.”  I have a group of new things to put in our booth today. The shop will be open today until 5:00, I think. Then Joanna will take a well-deserved vacation and will reopen Jan. 6th.

My family is doing well.

We will go to Lunch Bunch soon, joining our good friends for conversation and laughs.  It’s good to be able to share the good times (and help each other with the bad) as we watch one year turn into another.

My new shop – EyecatchingEarrings on Etsy – is coming together. I’m hoping to have it fully up and running by the end of the weekend, though the shop is open for business now. :0)

I hope you had a happy Christmas and that 2020 will be a wonderful year for you.

 

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December 26, 2019 · 4:21 pm

Thoughts on a Thursday 12-26-2019

Robert J. Bennett – LinkedIn

Hi, everyone.

I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday.

My husband was very complimentary about my kitchen efforts. In fact, he’s mentioned last night’s dinner twice today! We had a nice quiet evening. After we ate dinner, my husband showed me that he rented the movie “Downton Abbey” for me. He knows I loved the TV series and knew I wanted to see the movie, but this was a very nice surprise – particularly since he had no interest in it and escaped to the office with his Kindle. :0)

I LOVED the movie and highly recommend it. It seemed to me to be a stand-alone movie, not requiring that you had watched the series to enjoy it. For those who DID watch the series, it tied up loose ends and gave you a sense of what the future would hold for all the characters. I will purchase it for our personal collection when it is more affordable.

Today I have been gathering and marking things to take to the local shop. I have just finished that, so all I have to do is put the containers in the truck tomorrow after Lunch Bunch and go change things out.

I created a new shop on Etsy yesterday to display my painted wooden earrings. It’s called, “EyecatchingEarrings”  I am listing both pierced and clip-on earrings. They are hand-painted, light-weight, wooden one-of-a-kind designs in several different sizes and shapes that I’m hoping people will like. It’ll probably take me a day or two to finish getting all the earrings on the site, but it’s open now.

Have a wonderful evening!

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December 25, 2019 · 1:15 pm

Playing in My Art Room

The Artful Parent

I told you that I have given myself the Christmas present of time to play in my art room. I had a blast yesterday – cleaning a bit, but mostly playing.

 

I had to paint this tee TWICE because I forgot to spray it with the fabric sealer. DUH.  I wore it, put it in the washer and dryer, and it came out ALMOST completely plain green again. Thankfully, since the paint is water soluble, the paint didn’t get on anything else.  Here it is for the SECOND time – sprayed so the paint will last.

I also painted a group of note cards using a different technique than I have in the past –

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re interested. they will be listed on ArtworthyNoteCards on Etsy.  On about the 27th of December, they will be available at our booth (“Blasing Bright” in our local shop in Greenwood, Arkansas – Rags & Roses Collective, 100 N. Main Street. Hours: 11-6 Tuesday through Friday, 10-4 Saturdays.  The cost at the shop in Greenwood is $9.99 for the package of 5 cards.

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December 25, 2019 · 9:49 am

Today

BrainPower Neurodevelopmental Center via Bethany Kerr

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December 25, 2019 · 9:39 am

Merry Christmas 2019

Amazing Things

This cutie and I wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that 2020 is a great year for you.

 

Suzanne Starr-“May Peace Find Us In The New Year”

 

I will start preparations for our dinner soon, but I wanted to thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate your comments more than I can tell you. I love the feedback, telling me what you enjoy – and what you wish I would QUIT doing. :0)  I feel rich in the people I have ‘met’ here, and I love sharing with you.

Merry Christmas!

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December 24, 2019 · 4:28 pm

Christmas 2019

Alex Howitt

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December 24, 2019 · 2:51 pm

I Smirk for Puns – 30

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December 24, 2019 · 2:36 pm

Thoughts on a Tuesday – 12-24-2019

RJ Bennett-LinkedIn

We did errands first thing this morning and are now in for the rest of the day.

We are having a good, quiet Christmas this year. For the past few days, we’ve been delivering presents and visiting with good, long-time friends. It has been really good to catch up, hug a few necks, talk and laugh together. We’re really rich in friends.

Though our son won’t be home from Thailand, we had a super conference call day before yesterday. We chatted about this and that, and most of all, I got to see his FACE. I truly love his face, and trying to make him smile or laugh. When he was home helping us with my husband’s stroke, he took particular care in filling up my hugs bucket to the brim and over-flowing.

Besides going up to continue cleaning my art room – and then, possibly starting some new projects I have rattling around in my head, I gave myself ANOTHER Christmas present. Recently at the exclusive emporium of WalMart, I found a light pink pullover hooded sweatshirt. It was SUPER soft and a really nice weight, so I bought it. One of the wonderful things was that – for the first time in a LOOOOOONG time – I bought it out of the regular women’s clothing department, rather than in my usual special department for ‘ladies-of-more-generous-size.’  I wore it, loved it, and decided I wanted a couple more.

You guessed it – there WEREN’T any more when I went back. I tried to order more online. I thought I had found them, but when they arrived, they were fleece. Heavier than I want for in the house wear. Today, when we stopped there, I FOUND them again!  I bought two more. Merry Christmas to me!

Even though our house is nice and warm, I get psychologically chilled sometimes while watching TV. I get a throw to burrow under in my chair. With the sweatshirts, though, I’m much less apt to feel chilled. :0)

I am ready to cook our small Christmas dinner tomorrow. We’ll have enough turkey breast for the celebratory meal, plus – our favorite – sliced turkey for turkey sandwiches for a couple of days.

Today has been quite enjoyable for another reason – I’ve been on Facebook and LinkedIn, two of my favorite websites, and have connected with a lot of folks. Today has been filled with good wishes, nice posts, and good conversations.

Happy Christmas Eve –  and Merry Christmas tomorrow. Happy 2nd day (I think) of Hanukkah to more of my good friends. I hope that you are surrounded with love. If not, I’ll be thinking of you and trying to send hugs your way.

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December 23, 2019 · 3:04 pm

Fun Afternoon!

Constant Contact

I am giving myself an early Christmas present this afternoon – giving myself permission to go up and play in my art room.

I have been making a lot of things lately, and so my art room looks like there was an explosion. I’m going to take my time, putting things away, clearing a lot of space to start another group of things very soon. I have ideas rattling around in my head that are eager to come out.

I hope that you have a fun afternoon planned, too.  Enjoy your day!

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December 23, 2019 · 2:57 pm

Nice Christmas

We are enjoying a quiet Christmas this year. We have spent the last few days taking presents to good friends and visiting and that has been wonderful.  We only have one remaining, but our friend is out of town now, so we’ll catch up with her when she returns.

 

I have a teeny tiny CUTE turkey breast I’ll cook for us on Christmas Day.  We’ll also have deviled eggs, dressing, and cranberry sauce.

I’m grateful that we are both healthy enough to enjoy this holiday together.

Merry Christmas!

 

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December 23, 2019 · 2:22 pm

When Wood Comes Alive – 32

WonderfulSkills.com

 

My Modern Met

 

needpix.com

 

Savini Art Gallery

 

Rick Cain – “The Elder”

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December 23, 2019 · 2:14 pm

I Smirk for Puns – 29

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December 22, 2019 · 10:47 am

Lovin’ Niki Firmin’s Pet Portraits

Niki Firmin – Jersey

 

Niki Firmin – Alice and Jasmine

 

Niki Firmin – Bonnie and Clyde

 

Niki Firmin – Charlie

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December 22, 2019 · 10:42 am

I Smirk for Puns – 28

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December 22, 2019 · 10:35 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 12-22-2019

istockphoto

And we have water pressure!

After two days of non-stop work, we enjoyed nice hot showers with reasonable pressure last night! We had two big blowouts twice when we were doing a last ‘tightening up’ to stop a couple of drips, so we declared victory the third time and left the drips going. We would like to increase the pressure a bit more, but will wait to do it until we have the leaks stopped. I have called our plumber, who has agreed to come out after Christmas ( We told him this was not an emergency.)  We are hoping it will be a quick job for him and a final fix for us. Meanwhile, we’ll monitor things in the well house for any big problems.  Ahhhhhh!

Today will be a happy day for us. We’ll go grocery shopping and stop off at a friend’s house to check on them and take a present or two. Later this afternoon, I’ll do it again with another friend. :0)

Otherwise, we will do a lot of resting.

I hope your day is great, too.

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December 21, 2019 · 9:51 am

Water Pressure

We suddenly had very low water pressure several weeks ago. We discovered that the booster pump and motor in the well house (that control the added pressure we need on top of our hill) weren’t working. We spent quite awhile getting the booster pump and motor unattached and off the wall and called about trying to get it fixed. (We still had water, but just about 1/3 of the usual pressure).

As usual with our projects, the place we took it for repair LAST time had changed hands. Happily, the new owner agreed to see if he could fix our stuff. We left them with him in Fort Smith.

We waited and then finally the man called, saying the pump and motor were toast. They don’t make what we have any more, and no parts are available to replace. We gave him the go-ahead to order a new pump and motor – as close to what we had as possible. We picked them up in Fort Smith yesterday.

We spent from about 12:30 until 6:30 or so working in the well house and the shop on the installation. Of course, the new stuff couldn’t sit on the old mounts, so we spent a long time making a thick metal ‘shelf’ on which the assembly could sit.  When we got it made, we painted it so it wouldn’t rust. We took all the old attachment stuff to Yeager’s, trying to get new parts. We brought it all home and worked on it while we continued to wait for the paint to dry. (Even in the shop with the heat on, it takes a lot longer for paint to dry.)

We got the shelf mounted and attached the new pump and motor to it. We finished about 2/3 of the attachment yesterday, but discovered we didn’t have enough parts to finish.

Today – armed with gel with Arnica on my back and Tylenol – we’ll go to Yeager’s again for the parts we need to finish. I’m hoping that by the end of the day we’ll have our usual water pressure in the house again – a true luxury.

If we are successful, I’ll celebrate with a nice, hot shower!

 

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December 20, 2019 · 9:42 am

Yulia Derevschikova’s Felted Animals – 4

Yulia Derevschikova – Russia – via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova – Russia – via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova – Russia – via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova – Russia – via Bored Panda

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December 20, 2019 · 9:28 am

Thoughts on a Friday – 12-20-2019

Kanno Hisao

Yesterday I had a wonderful massage, exchanging gifts with my massage therapist and friend, Lynn. It was special for a THIRD reason – she had a CD of Christmas music playing.

I have discovered that I have a HUGE pet peeve – jazzed up (screwed up) Christmas music. I want people to just play or sing it the way it was written. I guess that’s limiting for the artists, but it’s my opinion they should be singing for the listeners, not for their own amusement or amazement. The really beautiful thing was that the CD she played was a series of instrumentals, with different instruments used for different verses of the songs, but played straightforwardly, purely, BEAUTIFULLY.

Lynn and I shared that one of our gifts to each other was that we were singing along MENTALLY, rather than aloud. :0)

I enjoyed every minute of the massage – as I always do – but this time was truly special with the absolutely lovely traditional Christmas music. I felt joy in my heart along with the easing in soreness. Those are true gifts.

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December 20, 2019 · 9:15 am

I Smirk for Puns – 27

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December 19, 2019 · 2:58 pm

When Wood Comes Alive – 31

Jurgen Lingl Rebetez

 

Catawiki

 

Daniel Popper-Colossal Art and Design

 

Giuseppe Rumerio

 

Hercottage

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December 19, 2019 · 2:50 pm

Dieting Woes

Slice of Life

My husband gets kudos – and some hostility from me, I have to admit – because he is maybe 5 lbs from his weight loss goal now. I’M the one who is doing all the choosing, cooking, serving, and cleaning up after our wonderful keto meals, mainly from Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto. He is still eating rolls and bagels, plus a lot of fruit – both ‘no-no’s’ on keto – plus strawberries, dessert cakes and ice cream at night after dinner.  He IS mostly watching his sugar – other than the bear claw he HAD to stop for on the way home from getting groceries with me. He is older than I am and doesn’t exercise at all.  He just got stellar results on his latest blood tests for our primary doctor, significantly lower in EVERYTHING, except one thing that stayed the same. He DID tell her he just ate what I fixed him…. Our doctor was patting him on the head. I DO have to admit I’m relieved and happy for him.

pinterest

I – on the other hand – am still on the plateau from Hell. I’ve really been good, with the exception of when I’m up in the middle of the night, having trouble sleeping, and food CALLS to me from the kitchen. Otherwise, I’ve been good. I’m back on my exercise program. I just finished 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage. I’ll do my yoga when I return from getting my hair cut this afternoon. I’m trying to pay attention to my macros, but too many times ‘stuff happens’ and we end up stopping for a burger, or….

Excuses run rampant and are becoming more and more creative.

I have about 30 pounds to go – stuck at 43 off and 45 inches off. I want to get the rest of the lard off, but it’s hard to keep going when I’m stuck in a rut. That said, it took me awhile to put ON this lard, so it’s only fair it should take me awhile to get it OFF.

 

 

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December 19, 2019 · 1:07 pm

“ME” Day

10 Best The Pet Spas Images-Pinterest

I didn’t plan it this way, but it all came together so I’m enjoying a luxurious “ME” day today.

I’m home from a glorious massage.  Not only did she find and fix all my sore or bunched-up spots, we exchanged Christmas gifts. I have the best massage therapist/friend in the world. If you’d like to contact her, her name is Lynn Moody, and her phone number is 479-629-7601.

I’m relaxing now with a cup of coffee and enjoying time at my computer.

I have a hair cut this afternoon, so that’s the second part of my “ME” day. There is nothing better than having someone you trust cut your hair. My hair is thin, fine, and generally worthless. It only does bad things on its own. My stylist understands what I’m dealing with, is very tactful about it, and realizes that he has to CUT my hair so it falls into place with a quick wash and blow dry every morning. We enjoy having a miracle worker. (My husband says our stylist ‘heals’ him.)  If you’d like to contact him, his name is Michael Remillard. His shop is Tangles, and his phone number is 479-357-9305.

The rest of my ME day includes 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer and then about 30 minutes or so doing yoga stretches.

I may melt into a puddle in my chair when I finish.

AHHHHH!

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December 18, 2019 · 11:35 am

More Felted Animals by Yulia Derevschikova

Yulia Derevschikova, Russian Artist, via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova, Russian Artist, via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova, Russian Artist, via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova, Russian Artist, via Bored Panda

 

Yulia Derevschikova, Russian Artist, via Bored Panda

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December 18, 2019 · 11:31 am

Thoughts on a Wednesday 12-18-2019

Kanno Hisao

The gray, rainy days have finally stopped, giving way to sunshine! It really lifts my spirits.

I earned two gold stars yesterday – one for doing 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer and the other for doing about half an hour or so of my yoga stretches. I put the gold stars on my desk calendar as a motivation to get off my rear and actually DO the exercises, rather than simply thinking about them or talking about them. Will try for another 2 stars today.

This afternoon my husband has an appointment with our primary doctor – the first since he suffered the stroke and we saw everyone trying to do whatever was reasonable to keep him from having another. I’ll be interested to hear what she thinks about how he’s doing, if he needs to change any medicines, and what she thinks the prognosis is for the future.  From my perspective, seeing him every day, he’s almost completely back to normal now. He gets his words garbled every once in a while, and I type for him if he wants me to.

All is good as we prepare for a quiet Christmas. We will actually celebrate with our various friends between tomorrow and Christmas at different times, leaving only the meal Christmas Day. I’ll make another turkey for us. We’re together. We’re doing fine. That’s all the gift we need.

I hope that you are having a wonderful, sunshine-y day.

 

 

 

 

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December 18, 2019 · 9:55 am

I Smirk for Puns – 26

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December 18, 2019 · 9:51 am

Pet Portraits

Niki Firmin – Tosca

 

Kelly Armitage

 

Kelly Armitage

 

Niki Firmin – Bo

 

Niki Firmin – Buster

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December 17, 2019 · 4:41 pm

Pain

Email from Marsha Koenig

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December 17, 2019 · 4:38 pm

I Smirk for Puns – 25

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December 17, 2019 · 4:32 pm

Worth Your Time

 

I just finished “Hillbilly Elegy – A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis” by J. D. Vance

I found it fascinating. Vance’s writing style is simple, straight-forward, honest, and compelling. I never expected this to be a book that would be hard to put down.

He puts you inside Appalachia and particularly rural Ohio, allowing you to live in his family with the good things and the bad things right with him. I now have a totally different perspective on poverty, culture, and the ‘solutions’ government and well-intentioned people who wrongly simplify a complex situation throwing money at education.

I strongly recommend this book. I’m very impressed with J.D. Vance. I saw a short interview with him on TV. I was so impressed with him that I ordered his book. I’m glad I did. I’m even more impressed now.

 

 

 

 

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December 17, 2019 · 3:47 pm

Large Journals

You might be interested in these hand-painted journals for yourself or as gifts. They have heavy cardboard fronts and backs with large spiral.  The top design is called “Purple Petals”

 

The inside has 10 manila type ‘envelopes’ which are great for keeping things organized, saving mementos, pictures, lists, etc. You can write on the back or front side of each ‘envelope.’

 

This is the plain heavy cardboard back.

This design is called, “Purple Bliss”.

 

 

 

And this one is called,  “Swirling Fall.”

If you’re interested, these are $9.99 each. They are available on ArtFire with free shipping to the contiguous United States, or at our booth, “Blasing Bright” at Rags & Roses Collective, 100 North Main Street. Greenwood AR.  Hours are Tues – Friday 11:00 – 6:00, Saturday 10:00 – 4:00, and Sunday until Christmas 1:00 – 4:00.

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