Back of piece.
Front of piece
I’m not really into the holiday spirit yet, but we have now started by putting up one of two mailbox decorations.
This one is about 2-1/2 feet tall by about 3 feet wide. It is painted on both sides. The white on the hat and the popcorn on the tree are done with Sno-Tex, a texture-y white paint that gives a nice 3-D quality. The white also shows up nicely at night when headlights hit it.
Filed under holidays, Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations
Y.W. Kim-“Prepare A New Season For the Valley in the Forest”
Stephen McGuinness – “Light on the Lake”
Vaclav Radimsky-Le Vieux Moulin A Giverny via Dr Cyril Thiaudiere PhD
William Bliss Baker-The Quiet Stream – via Dr. Cyril Thiaudiere Ph.D
Filed under water paintings
2 STAR art
I love my life.
Not EVERYTHING about it, but close.
I’m retired, so I can pretty much design my day – except when the water pressure booster dies, like yesterday.
I have given myself permission NOT to be productive. I used to make a to-do list and not allow myself to do other things until I had at least shown a bunch of progress on it. I FINALLY realized that my to-do list just grows. Most of the things I accomplish on it don’t STAY done, so they get added onto the bottom in a never-ending depressing length. I don’t get any POINTS or anything for getting these off the list, so I have changed my ways.
I now do the things that will result in bad things if I don’t on time. Those take priority for the day. I try to do the MOST important things first – the ones where I will be thrown into the slammer if I ignore them today.
I then intersperse FUN stuff – like playing in my flowers in the spring, or harvesting my veggies at the proper time, or playing in my art room. THEN I go back and do another ‘important-to-others’ thing from the list.
I’m MUCH happier since I started doing this.
Nanea Hoffman – My Positive Outlooks via Bethany Kerr
Filed under aging, Attitude, Encouragement, quality of life
Alina Ciuciu – I Live in Canada – Smiling Husky
Alina Ciuciu – Let Me Without A Doubt
Filed under Acrylic Paintings I Love, paintings I love
We woke up to super low water pressure this morning. Since we live up on top of a ridge line (the water meter is 650+ feet down the hill to the north of the house) we have a booster pump and motor in the well house. This also controls the flow to the irrigation system. My husband finally decided that the pump and/or the motor had failed. It took us a long time to get it unhooked and off the wall (getting soaked in the process.) I found the name of a guy in Fort Smith and called him, confirming that he would look at what we have and see if he can fix it. My husband fixed things so we have water in the house, even though the pressure is down. We drove to Fort Smith, left the stuff with the man, and now we wait. Hopefully, he will be able to fix it. If not, he will call with prices for replacement pump and/or motor.
We ate at our favorite restaurant on the way home, The Dari in Greenwood. We had a hamburger steak and veggies. YUM! It made up for not eating anything until about 2 pm today, plus having to deal with difficult things first thing in the morning.
I am now trying to decide the way forward on listing my artwork for sale. Right now I have things listed on ArtFire and two shops on Etsy. Every time I mention ArtFire, no one has heard of it. I’m wondering about opening more shops on Etsy and dropping ArtFire. I’ll consider pros and cons and then make a decision after the holidays.
It’s mid afternoon and I have done anything yet – with the exception of helping with the water pump and motor.
I’m going to have a cup of coffee and see if I can regroup.
Hope YOUR day is going better than ours!
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance, Thoughts on a ________
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish Photograph – ReturnToNow.net
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish Photograph – ReturnToNow.net
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish Photograph – ReturnToNow.net
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish Photograph – ReturnToNow.net
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Ossi Saarinen
Timeline Photos via Martha Kirkendall-Ghearing
Today is the first day of December. I’m ‘back in the saddle” again – or TRYING to be – on my diet and exercise.
I’m a weak person, basically, allowing any excuse to knock me off the horse.
FunPicsandStuff
There are two of us here, so the ‘get-rid-of-everything-you-shouldn’t-eat’ is difficult. Plus, my husband has essentially met his weight goal and is only avoiding sugar, so HE is having strawberries, dessert cakes, and no added sugar ice cream before bed.
The exercise thing was going well until ‘something happened.’ I really can’t pin it down – I just started making excuses. Is there an award for that? If so, no one else need apply to win….
ANYHOW – I am determined to get my good habits going again and today will be DAY 1 of the new effort. I will do 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer later this morning. I’ll do half an hour or so of good, gentle yoga this afternoon, stretching my body in all directions, hopefully getting rid of the kinks I’m feeling this morning. I made keto chili by Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto yesterday. We enjoyed some last night and will have it again this evening. I would like to lose another 35 pounds. (I’ve lost almost 45 thus far and about the same in inches). I’ve been holding here for far too long now, and will be happy to start seeing new results on the scales and with my tape measure. I’ll let you know at the end of the month.
123RF.com
Fingers crossed that I can stay motivated. I have my gold stars ready to go on my calendar for my exercises. I lost a pound yesterday. ..
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, exercise, quality of life, taking care of yourself
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish photographer via ReturnToNow.net
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish photographer via ReturnToNow.net
Ossi Saarinen, Finnish photographer via ReturnToNow.net
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography, Ossi Saarinen
I have two more sets in different colors in the works in my art room, plus a tote bag and a journal. I just love being able to run up the stairs, do a quick session, come down and do something I SHOULD do, and then run back up again when the last thing I did has had a chance to dry…
Filed under fun in my art room
Gianni Cino – Sussan Photography – via Penny Yaffe Krakow
I think this is the most wonderful photo of a giraffe I’ve ever seen. I could look at it all day.
It stormed early this morning, with lots of thunder, waking us up. Usually we don’t even know it rained, so this was a more serious storm than usual. No damage that we’ve found so far, and it is finally clearing off – after three straight raw, cold, rainy days. HOORAAAAAY!
I have a keto chili in the crock pot now, ready for us to enjoy tonight, from my Simply Keto book by Suzanne Ryan. If I manage to get to my goal weight, it will be largely thanks to Suzanne and her delicious recipes that I can enjoy eating on my diet with food that my husband truly enjoys.
via Jennifer Ann Mitchell Carroll
I have almost 45 lbs off and about the same in inches at this point. I’m MUCH better than I was in the past and I feel healthier and more energetic. I look back with relief that I have finally taken the health of my husband and myself seriously, trying to get us – and keep us – as healthy as possible as we age. I AM taking good steps with our diet and my exercise.
My “PLAN” today is to do my 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer, plus my half hour or so of yoga practice, PLUS not eat anything I’m not supposed to eat – things I have not done in the last few days. As my good friend, Marsha, says, though – “No promises – even between me and me.”
I WILL get up to my art room this morning as soon as I finish babbling at you and finishing my coffee. The new colors of Unicorn Spit I ordered came yesterday. I have some earrings, a tote, and a journal cover started. (Did I mention I really LOVE to play with this stuff?)
Happy Saturday!
Niki Firmin – Swift
Niki Firmin – Jack
Filed under drawings, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
Coffee for All via Michael Remillard and Martha Kirkendall-Ghearing
Filed under Attitude, Funny Signs - Humor
LoveThisPic
My two friends came over last night to help us celebrate Thanksgiving.
Due to my not paying enough attention, I noticed a label on the cute little turkey breast I was about to cook saying, “Cajun Style.” My husband and I are real wusses when it comes to hot and spicy, so this seemed like a huge problem. My husband went out to get another regular turkey breast while I rubbed off the ‘Cajun’ stuff as much as possible We defrosted the regular one when he returned and cooked both at the same time. I labeled each one carefully so that we could all try the Cajun as well as the regular. We all pronounced the Cajun good! There was a small ‘bite’ after you swallowed, but it was a NICE bite, if that makes sense. My husband and I are looking forward to lots of turkey sandwiches!
We enjoyed our feast. It was great catching up. We had a lot of good conversation, hugs, and laughter. It had been a long time since I saw Nora, one of my good friends. We agreed to do better in the future. Life is too short and we love each other. My other friend is Carla, with whom I share the booth in the local shop in town. She reminded me that Christmas Honors is coming up, and so we’ll go together on Dec. 4th.
“Christmas Honors” is a tradition honoring our veterans. People come together to volunteer to attach red bows to wreaths to put on each veteran’s grave in the Veterans Cemetery in Fort Smith.
This will be my third year to do this. There are around 18,000 wreaths on which we will attach red bows. So many people in our area have served our country, and it’s good to be able to do something to honor them. There is a huge group of people who gather to do this. Lots of laughter and camaraderie as we work.
As I was typing this, I heard a noise coming from the dining area I couldn’t identify. I discovered Amber, our 94-pound yellow lab, licking the aluminum pie plate from last night. I looked at my husband. He had the grace to look a bit guilty. There had been two pieces of pie left last night, and both were now in my husband’s tummy….
I’m looking forward to spending time in my art room today. I’m still enjoying playing with the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. I bought some more colors on the net recently and look forward to expanding my play. :0)
I hope that you are enjoying your Friday.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Thoughts on a ________, Volunteering
Element Natural Healing Arts
I ran the bulldozer around through the first floor yesterday, so things are looking about as good as they get around here. :0) I’ll start cooking in a bit, but one of my friends is bringing green bean casserole, and the other is bringing apple pie, so a lot of the work is done. I’m cooking a small turkey breast, stuffing, and making deviled eggs. Wine, coffee, great conversation, hugs, lots of laughter. And for THIS, I am truly thankful.
I visited with our son via our chat program this morning. (He is in Thailand.) We exchanged virtual hugs. He is doing well and is happy. That’s all I really need to know. The details are ‘gravy.’
The only thing NOT fine is our weather. It started raining last night. We’re supposed to have ‘cold, steady rain’ all day today – and through SATURDAY. It’s a good thing I live on top of a ridge line…
“May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump. May your potatoes and gravy have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious, and your pies take the prize, and may Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs.”
_________
I am thankful for YOU, who take the time to read my blog. I look forward to talking with you each day and sharing the things I find with you.
Have a happy day!
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays
Monet The Stained Glass Tabby Cat-Peggy Collins-via Penny Yaffee Krakow
Filed under Stained Glass Art
iStock
In about 20 minutes, we are going to Lunch Bunch! This week we’re doing it today, rather than Friday. The Pizza Barn will be open Friday, but not until 3pm, and no salad/pizza/banana pudding bar. 3:00 p.m. is almost dinner time for one of my friends, so we’ll enjoy seeing everyone today.
When we get home, the push will start to get ready for Thanksgiving. It all starts with running the bulldozer…
I’ve told you before that housekeeping is really low on my list of priority activities. When we’re having people over for dinner, I try to get serious about making this place clean enough for others to be comfortable. Dog hair is rampant right now, so I’ve been vacuuming every other day. This is NOT enough for when others come to visit. I’ll scrub bathrooms, vacuum, and do general cleanup of the first floor so that I can concentrate on last minute cleaning and cooking tomorrow.
I hope that you are not having to start with a bulldozer at your home today, and that you have a happy celebration tomorrow.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn
Inna Kashkovar – LinkedIn
amazon.com
We went bowling last night with our good friends, the Taylors, last night.
It doesn’t matter how well (or how badly) we bowl. We do it for the fun of it, the good exercise, the chance to catch up with our good friends, AND a trip to Braum’s afterwards for a scoop of ice cream.
BONUS # 1 – Last night was especially fun. There was a good-looking young man with 4 kids of varying ages bowling next to us. The children looked to be Asian and were great-looking children. The two boys looked to be in their teens. The girls were younger. As we bowled, I couldn’t help but melt into a puddle at the youngest girl. She had a gorgeous smile that appeared often. I clapped when she got a spare and she lit up like a Christmas tree. She would smile at me when I managed to throw a good ball, too. The man had taught the kids bowling etiquette, so it was a pleasure to be next to them.
After awhile, the man came over to us and said that he wanted us to know that his kids were impressed with our bowling. This was a shock because we really weren’t doing that well, although we had gotten a few strikes, and – more notably – picked up a few difficult spares. He said the kids were always on their phones. He had taken them to the Grand Canyon, and couldn’t get them to even look out the window at the wonderful sight because they were glued to their devices. But they were impressed with us!
We told him that his kids – two of the four – and his niece and nephew – were beautiful children and we were impressed at how well behaved they were. They were here for Thanksgiving, and he had taken them bowling to get them out of the house. :0) A total pleasure to bowl next to them and talk with them.
BONUS # 2 – After a joyful trip to Braum’s for ice cream, we took our friends back to their home. They said they had something for us. They went inside and came back out with TWO gorgeous elephant ear plants for us to take home!
Elephant Ear 1
Elephant Ear 2
Laufrain told us to put them in the garage to winter over, but we elected to try to keep them alive in our dining area and then – if successful – we’ll put them on our front porch in the spring so they’ll be protected from too much wind.
Filed under Delightful Surprises, Family, Friendship
creativeartworksblog 