Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
We are about to go to Lunch Bunch – our every Friday brunch/lunch with long-time good friends to enjoy sharing what has happened since LAST Friday, what is coming up, good news, bad news, lots of hugs and laughter. We have done this for some 17 years now and our friendship is priceless. Our son will go with us today, so it will be even more special.
I’m thankful for what should be a quiet day – a treasured thing now.
_____________________
A couple of hours have passed. Our Internet keeps going down, so I gave up and we went to Lunch Bunch. We had a great time. We’ve now replenished groceries and I’m again trying to get a post off before the net goes down again. Challenging, to say the least.
I hope YOUR Friday is a good one, and that you have much for which to be thankful, too.
Filed under Family, Friendship, Thoughts on a ________
Carla Stafford – LinkedIn
“A fox is a wolf who sends flowers.” – Ruth Brown
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
“Let every fox take care of his own tail.” – Italian Proverb
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
“A fox should not be of the jury at a goose’s trial.” – Thomas Fuller
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
I’ve had a productive morning.
RK Preserve Carpet Cleaning
I vacuumed the carpeted parts of the first floor this morning, vacuuming up at LEAST one dog’s worth of hair, and maybe a cat, too. It amazes (and disgusts) me how MUCH hair I vacuum up each time, even though I’m vacuuming more these days than I ever have before. It’s a miracle that we actually have two dogs and two cats left AND that none of them is bald! I’m liking our 4 goldfish more and more – THEY don’t shed!
Jolly Gardener
I’ve told you that we had 2 of the 14 planters we built around the yard 30 years ago collapse. We rebuilt one of them, and had the second one rebuilt by someone who knows what he’s doing. (It’s beautiful.) My husband worked to make and attach the PVC irrigation system stuff we needed in order to hook the two planters up to our system in the front yard. (It was when he was attaching the PVC pipe to the newest planter that he fell and skinned his leg badly. I put it on my list to use bags of potting soil to fill up the newest planter.
It was the morning after he fell on July 22nd that we discovered he had suffered a stroke. Obviously, we have had other priorities since then, and I’m happy to report that my husband is essentially back to being his normal ornery self now. This morning I decided I would fill up the planter. I filled the wheelbarrow with four 40-pound bags of potting soil and trucked them over to the planter. Our driveway detector went off, and my husband came out to see who was here. He slit the bags and we dumped them into the planter, then got four MORE 40-pound bags in order to finish the job. Now both rebuilt planters are ready to receive new plants, probably in the spring.
We drove down to get the mail (we have a STEEP 650+ foot driveway down to the road where our mailbox is.)
After we got the mail, there was a truck coming down the road the other way. He stopped, obviously wanting to say something to us. When we pulled up next to him, he said, “I’m happy to see you two. I just wanted to tell you I LOVE yawl’s mailbox signs. I come by here every day looking to see what you have up there next. Yawl are really creative.” I thanked him, telling him that he had made our day – week – month – year – and maybe life – with his kind words.
This was about an hour ago. Can you see me STILL grinning? We never pictured ourselves creating things together. We have had a blast fighting over what to create, how to make it, how to paint it, etc. We have SUCH fun with this. We change the decoration twice a month, so are getting ready to put the next one up on the 15th, weather permitting. Now, each time we change the decoration, I’ll picture this NICE, NICE man who took the time to tell us we give him a smile when he passes our driveway. :0)
What a WONDERFUL morning!
RantNOW
I just gave myself a gold star for today. I just finished yoga practice # 3 for the week (#9 since I started my renewed practice after sloughing off for several months.) Things ARE getting a bit easier. My husband and son are both being quite supportive of my efforts which makes it nicer. My BODY, though, is the one I’m really listening to. I’m feeling it start to GIVE after I breathe into the various stretches. It still is uncomfortable when I first get into each stretch but then eases off more and more quickly. I’m feeling looser and relaxed when my practice is over. I’m sleeping better. :0)
“Yoga is 99% Practice & 1% theory.” ~ Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
DoYouYoga
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” ~ B.K.S. Lyengar
starcasm.net via Pinterest
“In truth, Yoga doesn’t take time – it gives time.” ~ Ganga White
Bamboo Garden Yoga
“Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.” ~ Unknown
Whenever I practice, although I’m doing my own thing right now, I remember Cat Kabira from my “Gentle Yoga” DVD saying, “Relaaaaaaaaxing Jaw……. Relaaaaaaaxing Face…..”
AHHHHHH!
Filed under exercise, taking care of yourself
Victoria Veluz – LinkedIn
Kelly Armitage – Hunting Dog in Full Disguise – LinkedIn
Kelly Armitage – Oreo – LinkedIn
Niki Firmin – Bella – LinkedIn
Filed under drawings, Kelly Armitage, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits
Vera Fedchenko via Ana Loreta Baicu – LinkedIn
Filed under paintings I love
Garrison Keillor – Generate Status
We made 13 donations to our local library last year for their fundraisers. ( I don’t know how many this year) We’ve sold a LOT of books on Amazon and eBay. We STILL have books in almost every room in the house. I keep promising myself I’ll get into the mindset to go through our books with the idea of giving them new homes, but I have to admit I’m greedy and want to keep them all, as well as buying new ones.
My husband and I each have our personal libraries of books by favorite authors. His thing is mainly Science Fiction. He reads fast and remembers most of what he reads. At one point, in an effort to conserve money, he read books upside down to try to slow down. :0) He also has technical books of all kinds, math books, books we’ve bought in the library fundraisers, project books, and more. Our personal libraries are in built-in shelves in our bedroom. I guess the only rooms that don’t have shelves for books is our bathrooms…
I am re-reading book #29 (Kindred in Death) from the In Death series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) I’m fascinated by the world and characters she has created. There are 48 books in the series that have come out in paperback so far, with more to come. I have the latest paperback on my table beside my chair in the living room. I won’t allow myself to enjoy it until I have finished re-reading the 47 books that come before it. I feel lucky to be able to dive into the current one and live in their world for a bit before tackling another item on my to-do list for the day.
I have all books written by Robert J. Parker and enjoy re-reading those, too. (I feel sorry for my husband that he remembers books and movies so well. I don’t have that awful ‘affliction’ and can enjoy things over and over again almost as if it were the first time) :0) Another favorite is the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch. I think there are 25 paperbacks in that series so far.
I plow through truly wonderful art books that are everywhere. I can’t ever get very far when I look at them, though. I get caught up, grabbed by an idea, and have to go play in my art room to see what I can do with it.
We had another set of shelves built for my husband to add on to his space for his personal collection. Mine spilled over into the built-in shelves in the guest room. We feel rich in books.
I would (and probably should) give up many things in life, but reading is something I’ll do with great enjoyment until my last breath!
Filed under Hobbies, Reading is FUNdamental
I don’t mean to give you the heebie-jeebies or bad dreams, but our son found a scorpion on his carpeted bedroom floor this morning.
DK Sanders-Weatherford Photography
This isn’t the one, but this was shown as an “Arkansas scorpion’ on the net, and looks like the ones we find.
We have the whole house sprayed each quarter since we live out in the sticks. I tell them to spray for ‘everything’ including elephants. Josh at Tri-hill Pest Control has been doing our treatments for years. A new man, Adolpho, came almost a month ago now, and did a very good job for us, as well.
Usually, the treatment comes with a free re-spray if you have bugs within 2 weeks. I called Tri-Hill this morning after I had the chance to talk with our son, who told me that the scorpion he found this morning, upstairs in the bedroom, on the carpeted floor. He wasn’t sickly, either.
Alex, who answers the phone and does the dispatching, looked up our treatment date and saw it was almost a month ago. When I told him that I have never called for a re-spray before, but tended to take lively scorpions on the second floor more seriously than other things, said he would arrange a re-spray for 10:30 TOMORROW, and that we would not be charged.
You can’t ask for better attitude or service than this.
If you are lucky enough to live in our area – please consider giving these people your business.
Tri Hill Pest Control, 1308 Zero St, Fort Smith, AR 72901. (479) 782-2847 tri-hill.com – Alex – dispatcher Adolpho (I hope I’m spelling this right) – treatment specialist.
Filed under Great Companies Who Deserve Your Business
Bethany Kerr
Bethany Kerr is an extremely talented artist, as you can readily see here, with her drawings of her kids. She also does commissions of all kinds, plus murals in homes and on buildings in her town, plus watercolors, teaching art, local shows with one of her daughters….. I feel extremely lucky to know her as a person, as well as artist. She listed her work on my website, Creative Artworks, and that is where and how we met.
I admire her as a person. She is a beautiful wife and mother of many.
You can see more of her work at
Filed under Bethany Kerr, drawings
I’ve told you that my priority has shifted from ONLY trying to grind through my endless to-do list to making SURE I have some fun each day and getting exercise. This is the latest therapy to come from my art room. I wish you could see the sparkly nature of it. The leaves are done with clear glitter glue, but on the blue tee the paint turns a really nice, sparkly green.
I will earn my second gold star for the week, doing a nice long session of ‘old lady’ yoga stretching this afternoon. Since I sloughed off for so long, I have essentially started over, (starting again last week) but I AM beginning to feel a bit looser. I’m particularly feeling it in my mid-section (!) when I walk. My husband sits in his recliner reading as I practice my stretches. We both laugh at my ‘Rice Krispies body’ – with all the audible snap, crackling and popping as I change positions.
I am MUCH happier since I decided that life is too short to only do fun things ONLY when the list has been accomplished. Now I’m accomplishing a reasonable number of things, but also feeling better health-wise and happier in my heart.
I have told you that our son is here, having traveled to be with us from Thailand where he lives and works. He is helping us find our new normal since my husband’s stroke in July. Even with the health scare, it’s a joyful time when he is here. I love our talks, his wonderful sense of humor, and his gold-medal-winning hugs that fill my heart to overflowing.
Mother Nature is still teasing us with HINTS of the coming fall, allowing us to enjoy having the doors open in the mornings to catch a wonderful breeze and then joyfully frying us like eggs in the afternoon with heat indices of around 100 degrees F. My raised bed, square foot garden is breathing its last, even with our irrigation system. It’s just too hot for them. It’s too hot to start fall plants, as well, (it’s at least a gazillion degrees in our greenhouse) so we wait for relief. My husband wants me to try to grow strawberries next spring, so I’ll start reading everything I can find on that.
I hope that YOUR Tuesday brings you something that makes you smile.
Kurt Vonnegut via Cathy Ruggiero
In the last post I was telling you about a change in perspective about how we feel about Mondays. I have also changed my perspective on day-to-day priorities.
I always have a to-do list that is frequently longer than my arm. There are lots of things I feel that I should do in any given day. Some are ‘have-to’s,’ but most of them are just ‘should’s.’
For years I have tried to get as many of the things on the list done as I could and THEN given myself permission to go up and play in my art room, or do exercise. Most of the time, the art room, exercise, and/or playing in my garden or flowers got lost in the shuffle.
Since my husband had a stoke in July (he’s better and better every day), things got to the point where I felt guilty if I didn’t rush in the bathroom. Yes, it was that bad. Our son came home, gave us perspective, space, compassion, understanding, strength, wisdom, and lots and lots of hugs. This has been priceless.
Since he isn’t in a hurry to go back home, I have had a chance to rethink what I need to do now that the initial scare is over so that I can handle whatever comes next. My big change in priorities is to get REAL about what really needs to be done from the list. I ask myself, what is the worst that will happen if I don’t do this today? If I can handle the answer, it’s priority number is lessened. I have decided that I need to do everything in my power to be strong enough for both of us – particularly when our son needs to leave. So now time in my art room, time for a session of yoga, time to play in my garden or my flowers are things near the top of the list.
This morning I went up to my art room and finished painting my latest tee shirt. (I’ll post a pic when it’s dry.) I have just finished my first yoga session of the week, giving myself a gold star on my desk calendar. :0)
I still have plenty of time to tackle the ‘have-to’s’ for the day, but I’m feeling more at peace because of the time in the art room, and healthier and looser because of the yoga session. If I’m as strong as I can be, I can handle whatever else comes our way better.
taolife.com
Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
Good morning! (barely)
I’m getting a really late start again today because our Internet service is super wonky again today. I’m looking at this problem as another of life’s character-building exercises. I get halfway through a post, email, or reading an article, and everything goes dead. The sun is shining. This seems to be a case of being attacked by gremlins.
It occurs to me that when you retire, many things get turned upside-down.
One big example is a change in perspective – how we feel about Mondays.
We have worked most of our lives. Mondays were something that happened with great regularity – like clockwork – and meant an end to most free time and lots of hard work for the coming week. We lived for the weekends, getting to sleep in (until we had kids) and then rushing around to get all the errands done while the stores were open that we couldn’t make time for during the week. We made a point of playing hard, wringing every ounce of fun out of our time off, only to return to yet another Monday. The week would C-R-A-W-L past (even though I liked most of my jobs a lot).
Since we retired, we have the opposite situation. We like to have all the stores open, deliveries being made, mail being delivered, banks open, etc. We stay super busy, not able to figure out how we EVER found time to work full time. Our lives are full of interesting and fun things to do. Many of these things come to a screeching halt when it’s the weekend or a holiday. We start to do something and the bank is closed, or the stores are closed, or….
I’m not REALLY complaining. I’m just trying to explain the change in perspective now that we’re as old as dirt. :0)
Suzanne Starr – LinkedIn
Niki Firmin Pet Portraits
Niki Firmin Pet Portraits
Niki Firmin Pet Portraits
Niki Firmin Pet Portraits
Filed under drawings, Niki Firmin - Pet Portraits, Suzanne Starr Art
Amazon
On Tuesday of this week I renewed my yoga practice after sloughing off for a number of months. Excuses abound, but I KNEW it had been doing me a lot of good. I felt the progress, the loosening of my muscles, the relaxation. Tuesday I finally decided that I needed to take better care of myself and that started with practicing yoga daily. My husband’s question every day now is, “Are you going to yoge?”
Since I’m a bit age-challenged (I’m 72) and basically enjoy mostly sedentary pastimes, I really have to MAKE myself exercise even though I’ve proven that I actually feel better having done it. As a former student, then teacher – I learned the motivation of the Gold Star. It STILL works for me. I can be really tired from working in the yard and I look at my desk calendar, seeing 5 stars for the week – lacking the 6th – and I go practice my yoga to be able to add the star. Stupid – Silly – but I figure whatever works….
SO – Since I ‘yoged’ Tuesday through Sunday this first week of renewed practice, it’s a 6 STAR WEEK! :0)
DoYouYoga
“It’s not about being good at something. It’s about being good to yourself.” ~ unknown
I’m basically starting over, having sloughed for such a long time, but I am already seeing a bit of progress. I can again touch my toes. I do have to bend over and really breathe into it, but
g-r-a-d-u-a-l-l-y lower with each long breath so that eventually my fingertips touch the mat. It takes me almost a full minute of lying on my back for muscles to stop clenching, but I am relaxing a bit more quickly each day. I am still a wonderful model for the old Rice Krispies advertisements – snap, crackling, and popping my way into each new pose, but I AM able to get into them. The worst is sitting with my legs spread out to either side and then trying to bend forward. My “Gentle Yoga” instructor, Cat Kabira, bends forward and lays her forehead on the mat. Yeah. Right. I bend forward and the insides of each leg start screaming immediately. I am taking Cat at her word, that stretching as far as you can into the pose and breathing into it will bring rewards, whether you can touch your forehead on the mat or not….
India TV
“Inhale the future, exhale the past.” – unknown
The big thing I’m noticing is that the stretching in all directions and forcing myself to relax – eventually – makes me feel better. It used to be that I would stretch and some muscle or other would cramp. That is not happening now! This is a benefit of the practice before, but I’ll take it. I still hurt when I stretch, but NO cramping! Hooray!
YouTube
“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” ~ unknown
I’ll have to admit that I’m interrupted in my practice more by my own laughing than anything else. My husband never fails to remark at all the popping sounds my poor old body makes. I simply look at him, then can’t hold it in any longer and start to laugh. I tell him that he can make fun when HE is there beside me trying to do it, too. That usually results in his going back to reading on the tablet. :0)
“The pose begins when you want to leave it.” ~ unknown
As we age, balance becomes a problem. We tend to start shuffling our feet a bit or walking more tentatively, rather than striding as we used to. I have found that the yoga practice results in my feeling more steady, feeling my muscles work as I walk or stand.
“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” ~ unknown
I may always be creaky, but I’m really going to try to keep this going. I need to be as strong, flexible, and reasonably balanced as I can going forward. These ‘old lady stretches’ are really helpful – assuming that I actually continue to get down on the floor and DO them.
“Just breathe.” ~ unknown
NEXT week will be a 7 gold star week!
Filed under aging, Attitude, Challenges, exercise, taking care of yourself
Jayanand Govindaraj via Robert J. Bennett – LinkedIn
Hello!
I’m getting a late start on blog posts today because our Internet keeps going on the fritz.
My main thoughts today were to play ‘fruit-basket-upset’ with my priorities for the day.
We got groceries this morning, and I put a roast in the crock pot for tonight.
THEN, when the Internet wasn’t cooperating, I went up to my art room – a thing that got lost in the shuffle yesterday – and started painting another tee!
NEXT, I’ll get my yoga practice in for the day, and
THEN I’ll tackle the weed whacking and clean up after my husband mows later.
Anything ELSE that gets accomplished will be gravy.
I hope that YOU are having a great Sunday, too.
Houzz
“Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.” ~ Allen Klein
Overstock.com
“The whole point is to live life and be – to use all the colors in the crayon box. ~ RuPaul
TheWrapIt-Etsy.com
“Believe in yourself, go after your dreams, and don’t let anyone put you in a box.” ~ Daya
Filed under Beautiful Boxes
Iowa Environmental Mesonet-Iowa State Univ
Our actual temperature right now is 91 degrees F. The humidity is 63%. That means we’re between the “Extreme Caution” and “Danger” areas of the chart. Oh, JOY.
Dump a Day
I am drinking a glass of ice water after Session 2 outside. I cut down a BUNCH of weed trees across the front yard, but I kept the session short due to the heat vs my ‘age seniority.’ :0)
Dump a Day
We don’t actually have window units in our house, but I couldn’t resist the picture of this kitty trying to cool off.
I have one more session in me today, and I’ll cut down as many more weed trees I can.
Otherwise, I’ll save more exercise for my yoga session this afternoon.
Did I tell you I’ll be one of the loudest voices cheering when fall finally arrives?
Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Mother Nature
Home Guides-SFGate
I just came in from half an hour fighting with a tree.
We have a used (new-to-us) riding lawn mower. My husband does the mowing and I do the other associated stuff, like weed whacking, edging, leaf blowing. We have been TRYING to get outside and walk in the evenings (though it’s only about 50% successful thus far). We were on one of our walks and my husband griped about a tree that is off the edge of the part of our land we mow, but whose branches encroach into the area, making my husband have to duck each time he goes under it to mow that part of the yard.
Today I grabbed some really big loppers (longer and larger than those shown in this picture) and attacked the lower branches of the tree. Some of the branches came down easily (usually on my head!) Others – even with the wonderful loppers – it was all I could do to bring the branches down.
I lopped off everything I could reach, tossing the branches down the slope into the uncivilized part of the ridgeline.
We’ll see how successful I was. If I need to do more, I’ll take a high stepping stool we have next time.
I’m wondering if he’ll even notice, since he won’t have to duck. :0)
NEXT up (after I rest a bit more) are the weed trees that have sprung up along the civilized part of the FRONT yard!
Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance
Art and Expression via 2 STAR art
Things are gloriously QUIET around here today! A few errands, a few chores. My husband is doing well, our son is home. We are happily surrounded by our two dogs, two cats, and four goldfish, plus three hummingbirds flying around the feeder this morning.
DAY 5 of my renewed yoga practice, time to play in my art room, dinner figured out.
Doesn’t get much better than this. I hope you’re having a happy Saturday, too.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Home Depot
“Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago.” ~ Erma Bombeck
eBay
“Genres aren’t closed boxes. Stuff flows back and forth across the borders all the time.” ~ Margaret Atwood
Etsy
“If she knew how beautiful love is, she would already put it in a box, seal, and preserve it. So she could smell it whenever she wants.” ~ ― Denting Lara
Filed under Beautiful Boxes
Bruderhof Communities
Playing in my art room is therapy for me. An escape from anything that is bothering me. A way to work out feelings. A joy in experimentation.
We converted a third bedroom into my art room several years ago. I helped my husband put up extra shelves all the way across one wall. We got extra stand-alone shelves and a drafting table advertised in the newspaper. We put up a few more shelves on another wall. I converted the closet into a supplies area. We put up another large table that is as long as one wall. There is a ceiling fan from which I hung a cute mobile of merry-go-round horses.
Years ago my husband and son got together to give me a present of a lot of my favorite songs on CDs. I have a player up there, so I can fill the room with glorious music – some of which I danced to as a teenager a hundred years or so ago – and lose myself in the world of music and paint.
The only limitations is my imagination and my ability to make my visions come out on whatever I’m trying to paint. Lately I’ve been having ideas for tees on which I have spots that won’t come out in the wash. Since I’m a slob, I seem to have a never-ending supply of tees that can use a face lift.
Yesterday I finished another.
Lately I am trying to do things each day that make me stronger. I’m getting back into exercising, monitoring what I eat more carefully, working in my flowers when the weather isn’t lethal, playing in my art room, spending time with our son, walking outside several times a day, and reading.
The result of all this is hopefully a stronger, happier, calmer me. I don’t have to be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but being able to handle whatever comes as well as possible would be good. I am in DAY 4 today. So far, so good!
Ana Loreta Baicu – LinkedIn
My to-do list is longer than my arm today, but I’m enjoying a nice morning first.
We have the front and back doors open, creating a nice breeze through the house. We’ll have to turn on the a/c soon, since the high is supposed to be over 100 today, but I’m soaking up every minute of this. :0)
Feel the quiet. Ahhhh.
Filed under Mother Nature, paintings I love, Thoughts on a ________
creativeartworksblog 