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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
Rags ‘n Roses Collective
I arrived early to help set up in any way I could. Things started with a bang at 1:00 pm and were still going strong at 5:00 pm at the end. The weather was perfect and we had a LOT of people.
A wonderful man named Mike played a 12-string guitar and sang in the back. I kept wandering back there and listening to another song as many times as I could. He’s a nice, talented man, and I could listen to him for hours.
Santa sat at the front of the shop, patiently having his picture taken again and again with all who wanted to. There was a little girl who simply melted my heart when she was so ecstatic that Santa gave her a present and let her take a picture with him. She danced around and thanked him over and over. It was beautiful.
There was food at various places around the shop. A nice couple handed out samples of their wares. I ate a sample of apple butter and another of some French onion-y type dip. Both were delicious. I also found a chocolate chip cookie that was to die for. I made a serious effort to stay away from both the rest of the time I was there, but 5 hours is a LONG time…
I saw people I hadn’t seen in years. I hugged a bunch of wonderful necks and enjoyed catching up. I met new people, some of whom had booths in the shop. I looked at their booths, they came to the one I share with my friend, Carla. I met a lady who does really nice watercolors. It was NICE.
I did whatever I could to try to help during my time there. Mostly I just wandered around. I answered questions, helped people find things, applauded Mike for another song, picked up trash occasionally, finding a place to sit for a couple of minutes – ahhhh! – before getting up and wandering again.
Joanna, the owner of Rags n’ Roses Collective, was everywhere at once. There were two lines for payment – one for cash only and the other for credit and debit cards. There were still lines, but everyone chatted, seeming not to mind that at all.
It was a wonderful experience.
Our next thing is Ladies Night Out, December 5th, 6 – 8 pm. Rags ‘n Roses Collective, 100 North Main, Greenwood, Arkansas.
Hope to see you there!
Filed under Holiday Gift Ideas, holidays
Rags ‘n Roses Collective
Today from 1:00 ’til 5:00, the city of Greenwood, Arkansas will enjoy a Holiday Open House. Participating shops will be open so that people can enjoy shopping and good times all afternoon, kicking off the holiday season.
I’m lucky enough to be sharing a booth with my good friend, Carla, in a shop called Rags ‘n Roses Collective. The address is 100 North Main Street, right across the street from the Greenwood Cleaners. Joanna Brandt owns the shop and is a pretty, tireless lady who is seemingly everywhere in the shop at once, helping booth renters and shoppers.
At Rags ‘n Roses Collective, there will be finger food, door prizes, a musician playing guitar/fiddle/mandolin, photos with Santa, conversation, laughter, and – of course – wonderful things you will want to purchase for yourself or people on your gift list.
If you’re in town, come join us!
Filed under Holiday Gift Ideas, holidays
Bethany Kerr
Bethany Kerr
Bethany Kerr
Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings, Watercolors I Love
Jeff Jett
I love this picture. I want to pet this dog and hug him.
I have finished up some new things using the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze and wanted to show them to you.
The Greenwood Arkansas Holiday Open House is tomorrow afternoon from 1 – 5. I’m volunteering to help in Rags & Roses, 100 North Main, the shop where I am sharing a booth with my good friend, Carla, doing whatever I can to make it go as smoothly as possible. I’m looking forward to meeting people. There will be food, Santa photos, a musician playing the guitar/fiddle/mandolin, door prizes, and lots of wonderful stuff to consider buying for the holidays. FUN!
I am now looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have asked a dear friend to eat with us. My husband will be delighted to hear that she is bringing apple pie! All thoughts of diet are thrown to the winds. We will gleefully chow down, filling our bellies with delicious stuff and enjoying catching up with my good friend I haven’t seen in far too long. :0)
I hope that you are doing something fun today, relaxing, and looking forward to the week ahead.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, Thoughts on a ________
Winter Dream – Alina Ciuciu
Joy Of Wondering – Alina Ciuciu
Filed under Acrylic Paintings I Love
Kelly Armitage – LinkedIn
Kelly Armitage – LinkedIn
Kelly Armitage – LinkedIn
Filed under drawings, Kelly Armitage
Getty Images
I started my day with a glorious massage. I was still having problems from all the leaf mulching I did, even with pain gel and yoga, so it was especially appreciated today. My massage therapist, Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, truly has a gift for finding sore spots and making them give in to her healing hands.
We’re having a Holiday Open House at Rags & Roses, the local shop where I’m sharing a booth with my friend, Carla. The Open House is this coming Sunday from 1-5. The address is 100 North Main. There will be food, door prizes, photos with Santa, a musician who plays guitar, fiddle, and mandolin, plus all the nice things people are selling in the booths. I went today to make a contribution to the door prizes. Tomorrow I’m taking an assortment of the new wooden earrings I’ve made recently. They are for sale on ArtFire, too. If you would like to look at them, here they are – ArtFire.
We just had lunch and I’m about to head up to my art room to play. I’m planning to paint another journal, more note cards, a tote, and start more earrings – all with my Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. I love that stuff!
It’s getting dark outside, looking like it’s about to pour. We’re supposed to get a lot of rain between now and the end of the day Friday, so it’s a great time to be inside.
Hope you are staying warm and dry, and that you have something to do that makes you smile.
Filed under playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________
Ocean Series by Bethany Kerr
Ocean Series by Bethany Kerr
Watercolors by Bethany Kerr
Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings, Watercolors I Love
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
We are having a beautiful, sunny fall day here in Greenwood, Arkansas.
My husband is happy because he gets a new crown on his implant at the dentist’s today. This has been a more drawn out, serious process this time due to his being on blood thinners after his stroke, but this afternoon he finishes it. :0)
I finished painting and putting the hardware on the new earrings.
I will carefully solder the ring on each earring today and then they are ready to list on my ArtFire page. When I get the display things I ordered, I’ll also take an assortment to the new booth in the local shop in Greenwood.
I have many lame excuses for not doing my elliptical trainer and yoga every day. Yesterday I did yoga. Today I PLAN to get back into both.
I hope you are having a wonderful day!
I’m making 16 pairs of earrings in this batch. They are all made of light weight wood, 4 different shapes. The pic above shows the plain round shape.
4 different color schemes. This is the leaf shape.
Large teardrop shape.
3-D round with hole.
As usual, I grin the whole time I’m playing with the Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. This stuff is fun and you never know how things will come out. My favorite part of the process is when I spray the pieces with the polyurethane spray. It ‘sets’ the colors, making them permanent, but the colors simply BLOOM!
Filed under playing in my art room
I’m not a baker – or even a cook, for that matter. We manage, but it’s really not one of my favorite things. Yesterday morning I got the pineapple upside-down cake together and into the oven for my husband’s mini-birthday-celebration. When the timer went off, it needed more time. I kept checking to see if the toothpick came out clean, and it didn’t. I finally went ahead and took it out, let it cool, and dumped it (carefully) into the receiving platter. It was a complete disaster.
We went to the store and bought fresh yellow cake mix – plus a pineapple cake mix my husband chose – plus more pineapple, and came home and started again. My husband insisted we use the pineapple cake mix, even though it didn’t list pineapple (it said it had juice in the mix). The cake turned out fine, and THEN my husband decided he wanted to put pineapple and cherries on the top. So – since he was the birthday boy – we did just that.
He ate some soon after. He said it didn’t taste like pineapple upside-down cake. Imagine that! I told him that the way I usually did it was to put the sliced pineapple in the bottom of the pan over a mixture of brown sugar and melted butter, cherries in each center, and then pour the mixed cake mix on top before baking. I didn’t push it because what I ‘usually’ did had turned out a dismal failure this time.
ANYWAY – the birthday boy had a second piece of the cake last night and plans to eat more today.
At least he knows I love him…
Filed under Challenges, Family
Penny Yaffe Krakow – pic by Mary Madeline Botz
I finished the mulching yesterday and got things cleaned up. My poor body is really protesting, so I’ll take it easy for a couple of days before doing anything more out there. It’s amazing to me that I can get a bit tired by the end of several sessions, but don’t actual ‘feel’ it until that evening or the next morning. I plan to do my elliptical trainer and a session of yoga today, to help stretch things out.
I sang to my husband this morning – hence the cute picture of the doggie above. (I wasn’t nearly as cute, and my husband looked pained that I was singing. My husband, who is still being a curmudgeon about becoming a year older, grinned from ear to ear when he saw what I was doing this morning. The pineapple upside-down cake is in the oven as I type. Hopefully, I can make him smile several times today.
I’m waiting to hear from our friends on whether we are going bowling tonight and then for ice cream or not.
Since I was so ‘good’ working in the yard the past two days, I’m going to reward myself with time in my art room this afternoon.
Birthday – Bowling – Art Room – Pineapple Upside-Down Cake – Not bad for a Monday!
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