Our weather here in Arkansas is really beautiful. Cold fronts are coming through, but no rain yet. Maybe we’ll get some Wednesday.
PROJECT – My husband and I got the shelf back up in my art room. We chose different holes in the wall strips and the new brackets I ordered were correct. The shelf was heavy, but we managed it. I gathered two leaf bags of trash that I brought down yesterday. I’m hoping to wrap up the reorganization of the art room in the next day or two. Pictures later.
LINDA’S CRAFTINESS – I am having a sale on my tote bags on HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy. Storewide, whether the totes are in the “Tote Bags – Painted” category or in the “Christmas” section, I have marked the price down 25% – to $13.49 – and, as always, I will handle the shipping. The links here will take you directly to the site as a whole, or the categories. Take advantage of this sale to get unique and useful “Christmas wrapping totes” or totes to take to school, work, or the beach. Great gifts! Have fun. Here’s a sample –
Make this Sunday a fun one.
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________
I am finally accepting that the time when ‘all my stuff is done’ is NEVER. I have a super power of building to-do lists from Hell. They are all-inclusive, never-ending, generating even more as I mark something off.
I used to think if I just worked harder, used my time better, I would be able to cross the LAST thing off the list for once. Over the years, though, I am able to do less in a day. I get tired a lot faster, hurt for a day or so after I overdo, and just think of things I really need to tackle next. :0)
One of the changes I’m making as intelligence wins over stamina and enthusiasm, is changing the NAME of my list from ‘To-Do’ to ‘INTENTIONS’ list. That’s more honest.
I can even add boxes before each list item for marking the priority of getting it accomplished so that I do all the ‘1’s’ first. (A ‘1’ would mean I would be embarrassed for some reason if someone else saw it UNdone – such as cleaning the center shelves in our entertainment center when the DirecTV installer was due to install our new system, so he wouldn’t see all the dog hair and dust behind everything. (As it turned out, this one was actually a much lower priority, since no one but my husband and I actually saw all the mess behind all our stuff. We were sent a palm-sized device we plugged in to the back of the TV and then got the system to work ourselves.)
Another reason for a ‘1’ priority designation would be if we were going to run out of something that I really needed for something specific – like an ingredient in a recipe I was making that evening, or food for our animals. If I finished the number ‘1’ designated things on the list, the most important stuff would be accomplished.
The problem with this is that some things with the least priority would probably NEVER get done. AND, if they have such a low priority, why are they on the list in the first place? Maybe I should ONLY list “priority 1” items and forget the rest?
You may be seeing one big reason why I’m always so behind on my whatever-we’re-going-to-call-it list —- I get hung up on the actual CREATING of the list and get to what’s ON the list too rarely to make a dent in it.
Maybe I should just order the mug above for myself and forget about the list until tomorrow…
Filed under Challenges, Priorities - Life Lessons
I’m spending a couple of hours each day trying to completely reorganize my art room so that the heavy stuff is on the bottom shelves, or in low cabinets, and then go through what I’m putting back ON the shelves to distribute weight better while I create areas of art activity, such as “stationery & notecard supplies.”
Today the first thing I’ll do is take a couple of leaf bags up to the art room to gather up what I’m throwing away so far. I don’t want to overload the trash bags, either, because we need to be able to lift THEM to put them in the trash can Monday.
I MAY get the new brackets I ordered today. If so – and they’ll work – my husband and I will put up the shelf that fell down, being careful to use different holes for the brackets in the wall strips.
I removed EVERYTHING from the wall shelves and am totally rethinking how I’ll use those shelves.
It may take a couple of weeks or more of holding leaf bags full of throwaway stuff from the art room in the garage, since we can usually only fit three bags into our humongous trash can for pickup. That’s okay. Whatever it takes.
_______________
Even though I’m getting a BUNCH of exercise bending over, pulling, hauling, relocating – and I’m eating supposedly right, incorporating the extra protein shake my doc wanted me to daily – I’m actually GAINING a bit of weight. ARRRRRRRRGH! I’ve read that eating too MUCH protein can throw me out of ketosis, so ugh. I’ll need to study more to figure out the best way to tackle this.
I wish you a wonderful Saturday with lots of smiles.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Filed under Fun with Fingerpaint, Iris Scott
Indian Hills Humor – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs, punny
These beautiful images make me want to escape so I can live in their world. So fragile. Exquisite.
It’s a beautiful day here. We are supposedly at the end of our unseasonably warm weather here in Arkansas, with cooler weather to come and possibly some rain to break our drought a bit. I have absolutely no complaints.
Yesterday I spent about 3 hours in my art room, trying to get started on reorganizing everything in there due to shelf supports failing suddenly and dumping a ton of ‘stuff’ onto the floor. These are really strong shelves, but I had gotten really careless on realizing how much I was asking from the brackets. I’ve ordered replacement brackets (plus some extras) that should be delivered sometime tomorrow. Until then, there is lot of rethinking and reorganizing I can do.
Yesterday I concentrated on moving heavy stuff to lower shelves and low cabinets. I have the wall shelves empty now of almost everything. I’m going to use the lower shelf that avalanched as storage for some of groups of different types of paint when we put it back up. I’m concentrating on distributing anything with weight.
I’m certainly getting my exercise with this while paying for my carelessness. I’m bending over, moving things off lower shelves and out of lower cabinets, hauling things around and relocating them. I’m throwing away a bunch of stuff, as well, trying to create ‘areas,’ such as one set of shelves for stationery and note card supplies (with the heavier stuff at the bottom now, of course. ) :0)
It looks like a bomb hit in there, and will until most everything has found its new home and is straightened up. I’ll spend a bunch of time up there today and see what sense I can make of things.
I wish you a happy Friday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Filed under Amazing Animals, sculpture
Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs, punny
My husband heard a loud noise yesterday afternoon. He went outside to check it out, but couldn’t find anything. I went in my art room to put the new key chain blanks away later and found the source of the loud noise.
One of the shelves that goes along the back wall was hanging half-mast, having dumped most of its contents on the counter below and the floor. It was a real mess. I asked my husband to come up and help me pile the fallen and soon-to-fall stuff elsewhere and we moved the wood for the shelf onto the floor. We will have to replace the shelf supports and I’ll rearrange. Obviously, I put too much heavy stuff on the shelf!
I’ll have to rearrange almost EVERYTHING in order to have the heavier stuff only on bottom shelves, and spaced around. I’ll also put some stuff in the shelves in the guest room and the closet. This will be a huge project with lots of bending, lifting and hauling and re-arrangement to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’ll go out later this afternoon or tomorrow to get new shelf support thingies from the hardware store to get the shelf back up.
Meanwhile, my miracle-worker Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, my massage therapist and friend, will try to undo the knots I have accumulated, so I can start making new ones, re-arranging the stuff in my art room. :0( / :0)
I hope you have a terrific Thursday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Puns – BoredPanda.com – Migle Miliute and Gabija Saveiskyte
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, punny
“For a good life: Work like a dog. Eat like a horse. Think like a fox. And play like a rabbit.” ~ George Allen
“A fox is a wolf who sends flowers.” ~ Ruth Brown
“An actor is never so great as when he reminds you of an animal – falling like a cat, lying like a dog, moving like a fox.” ~ Francois Truffaut
“like the fox I run with the hunted and if I’m not the happiest man on earth I’m surely the luckiest man alive.” ~ Charles Bukowski
Filed under Amazing Animals
Filed under digital art, fairies, fantasy, Marina Blue Studio Art - Etsy
I love raccoons – in an abstract way – not in our yard. They tend to swarm our place each spring, summer, and fall – not only eating some bird seed, but eating ALL the bird seed and destroying the feeders!
They are not good neighbors or sharers – and so we have to use our humane trap to catch them and drive them far out away from us to ‘relocate’ them to hopefully a better place for them.
I don’t know why, but this season we’ve only had to relocate two – the lowest number I can remember. Whatever the reason is, I’m happy. I love to look at them, see artwork featuring raccoons, but they are a real pest around here.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges
The bug spray guy is supposed to be here between 10 and noon today to spray for everything, including elephants. My husband and I stripped the bed last night, making sure we didn’t have any hiding scorpions, before I had any chance of getting some rest. One sting is hopefully all I’ll ever have.
I added two new small signs to my Etsy site yesterday –
I ordered some key chain blanks that may be delivered today. I’m excited to see what designs I can come up for them.
Check out my 25% off sale on all the totes on my Etsy site. These make nice gifts!
Yesterday the Fedex guy delivered a very small package that turned out to be all the equipment we need for the switch to DirecTV. (the ‘device’ fit in the palm of my hand). My husband immediately decided that the two of us should put everything back and hook things up ourselves. We spent the rest of the day doing just that.
We got most of the issues solved. We’re still working on some things today, but we got it working and watched some TV for the first time since Oct. 7th. NICE. (The first time we went with DirecTV we got a big dish attached to the house (it’s still there – kind of like a time capsule now) plus a metal ‘box’ that went in the entertainment center that hooked to the TV, speakers, etc, plus the remote. (We only got one remote, so I got on my computer and ordered a second one that will be here sometime.)
My plans for the day went out the window when my husband decided to make the TV work again, so I have all that and more on my list today while he fusses and tries to solve the rest of our TV issues and gets it working like he wants.
The main thing, once the bug spray guy comes and leaves again, is to deep clean one column of shelves beside the center section of the entertainment center – that is now sparkling clean – for the moment. :0)
I also want to do at least a couple of good walks (for me) today, and hopefully will have the time and energy to do either my weights with videos, or my yoga stretches.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! A hundred years ago we got a Wii, like MANY other people. I added to that, getting a Wii Fit, a CD with a bunch of fun exercises. I found it while cleaning, gathering dust. My husband is going to set up the Wii again so I can throw in some of the exercises to break up my efforts to move the lard with something fun from the past. :0)
I hope that your Wednesday is a nice one.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Iris Scott – Adelman Fine Art
These are wonderful paintings; but it blows my mind that Iris Scott creates these by taking a blank canvas, putting on gloves, and paints using only her fingers.
I remembering loving the days when we finger painted at school. I really got into it, enjoying the absolute lovely mess I made, ending up with color everywhere and a huge grin on my face. I never ‘created’ anything that anyone could have described as anything other than a child having fun with paint. I’m absolutely in awe of Iris Scott’s talent, creating her own true art form.
Filed under Fun with Fingerpaint, Iris Scott
I woke up with a bang this morning. I was putting on my shirt when all of a sudden there was a live, very active scorpion!
I ran to get the forceps that we keep for such things around here (one upstairs and another pair downstairs). I lifted one sock, carefully looking at one side and then the other before putting it down; and repeated with the second sock. I moved one shoe, looked at it carefully and then shook it, in case the critter was inside. I finally moved the second shoe and THERE. HE. WAS. I picked him up with the forceps and flushed him.
I have now called our pest spray company, asking for an extra spray, or our quarterly spray date to be moved up. I asked that our guy come armed with the big guns, spraying for everything from ticks to elephants and all in-between. The nice lady on the phone laughed when I wanted him to spray for elephants, but audibly shuddered when I explained what happened this morning. I’ve been stung once and I really don’t want to repeat that. He’s coming tomorrow between 10 and 12. HOORAY!
We will go vote today. Please make YOUR voice be heard by taking the time to go vote.
I was sore from my cleaning binge, trying to get ready for the DirecTV that was due to be installed – but wasn’t – so I used our trip to Walmart and another store for food as my walking for the day (4061 steps) and stretched things out a bit with my yoga session. Hopefully, today I can do better.
When we get back from errands and such today, we’ll check to see if our trash can has been emptied and I can drag it back up to its spot up the driveway. I’ll list a couple of wood-burned and painted signs on my Etsy site and get on with our day.
I hope yours is a nice one.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
“It’s not true. Tell me I’ve been lied to…” ~ ‘I Love you’ by Billie Eilish
Well, long story shorter, the DirecTV install is not happening today.
We waited through most of the morning. Shortly before lunch, my husband got an email saying, “Your parts have been shipped,” or something to that effect. Either the guy lied to my husband, or my husband didn’t listen carefully enough, or SOMETHING – but we can now track the DirecTV system parts which will be delivered to us sometime. The label had been created, but there wasn’t any more information about the tracking than that.
The email then added, “When the parts have been delivered, you’ll receive a call for us to schedule installation.” Oh, yeah? Then what was supposed to have happened today?
SO – since we weren’t going to get the new system installed today, we regrouped. We just got back from gathering the trash and driving it down to the bottom of the driveway, getting our mail, and then going grocery shopping at two stores. We have everything put away now.
The doors are open to a really nice breeze. The temperature is 83, but it doesn’t feel muggy. Wonderful!
I’m trying to concentrate on my walking and a session of yoga today to try to stretch out all the muscles that I worked so hard yesterday trying to get the shelves clean in the entertainment center for the ‘installation.’ If I had known they were lying about when the installation would happen, I could have spaced the work over several days, rather than killing myself trying to do it all in one day.
Of course, if I’m being completely honest, if I had known – I probably would have let it to the last minute, being a slob by nature, and just had the marathon cleaning session then instead of it being done.
I resting regarding cleaning today and will tackle one of the floor-to-ceiling shelves on one side of the entertainment center section tomorrow, after we get back from early voting. So far, our errands counted for the first walking session.
Filed under Challenges, character-building exercises
Indian Hills Sign Humor – Vince, The Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs
Filed under When Wood Comes Alive
Yesterday I was deep-cleaning the center section of our Entertainment center where hopefully our new DirecTV system will be installed today. Saying I was appalled at what was behind the TV and all the books, electronics, ETC. that I have ignored, due to 1) being unable to access the shelves behind all this stuff and complex wiring going from one of the shelves to another, and 2) the ‘out-of-sight-out-of-mind’ syndrome that aids a slob like me, is a vast understatement. We actually have our TV tied with rope to anchors in the back of the center-most shelf to keep it from being bumped enough to make it topple.
Since the wiring will change, we untied the TV and put it down on the floor beside the fireplace, putting a sling chair in front of it, almost touching, to keep the cat and dog from making it fall over. It will stay there until the installer is ready for us to put it back, rewire, and tie it up.
Meanwhile, all the dog hair and dust was there for all to see. It was embarrassing, like when you change appliances and want to rush to clean the area before the new one goes in. (If you’re like me.)
I started at 10:00 and finally finished at about 4:30. I took some Tylenol last night before bed, but I was still hurting and didn’t sleep well. First thing this morning I took some Ibuprofin. I still hurt when I get up, but things are easing. I plan to do several walks today and follow that up with a nice session of yoga stretches.
We have no clue when the installer is supposed to come, so we’ll have to postpone errands until tomorrow. We’ll gather the trash and take it down, but that’s it.
I’m running a 25% off sale on all of my hand-painted, one-of-a-kind tote bags on my Etsy site right now. (The link takes you directly to my totes page.) I hope you find something you like – for yourself or for gifts. :0)
Our weather is so glorious these days it’s hard to stay inside. I hope your weather is beautiful, too, and that you have a fun day today.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I’m trying to rehydrate after another session trying to get the center section of our entertainment center clean.
I freaked out when we moved one end of our 48 inch TV out to try to set up to install the YouTubeTV and finally admitted defeat. The sight was appalling to say the least.
There are at least a gazillion wires running all over the entertainment center. If I could REACH to clean behind the TV, I would be afraid the process of cleaning and vacuuming would unhook something or mess it up. (This morning while I was cleaning I barely touched the clock and it turned off.) There are no words to describe how much dog hair had accumulated, as well as the dust that blows through up here on top of our ridge line.
I’ve been working since I finished my post to you this morning. I’ve rested for 10 minutes in between sessions, except for a longer one when we ate lunch; but, otherwise, I’ve been moving things and cleaning under and behind, first with the whisk broom, then the vacuum, and finally Swiffer Dust & Shine spray and cloths. I just finished vacuuming the carpeted areas on the first floor (our office, the foyer, and the living room) and will do one more session to vacuum the tiled areas ( two half baths, the dining area, the kitchen, the pantry and the utility room.)
I’ve logged 2511 steps so far today, even though MOST of what I’ve been doing involves being up on a ladder, stretching as far as I can to get to the very back of the shelf, moving stuff from one side to the other, etc, as I clean, and then getting down on hands and knees for the three bottom shelves of the center section of the entertainment center. The center covers the whole wall of the living room. I only tackled the center section today. The other two sections will have to wait until another day.
The work has involved ALL my muscles, made me strain to get up and down the ladder, made me almost laugh as I strained to get down on my hands and knees and then up again – followed by vacuuming the whole first floor -a good, thorough workout for this old lady. I will try to do at least a short yoga stretches session this afternoon to try to stretch out and relax as much as possible.
Okay. One more session…
Filed under Challenges, Housekeeping - Maintenance, I'm a slob
I think this is beyond lovely.
After fighting with our computers, TV, and a bit with each other for over two days now (after no TV since Oct. 7th and the latest announcement that our Internet/TV service provider was dropping the TV service immediately) we have admitted defeat. We were TRYING to get YouTubeTV to work on our television. All we managed to do was uncover the HUGE amount of Amber hair that was behind the equipment in our entertainment center. (I did manage to get it on my phone, but couldn’t get it to communicate with computer or TV or anything.)
We researched Dish and DirecTV and decided that DirecTV had the better deal for us. My husband spent a long time on the phone starting the service and arranging for installation tomorrow. (They wanted to come on the 31st, but my husband insisted on faster service.) HOPEFULLY, now that we’ve solved the reason for all the strife and anxiety, we can just sit and comfortably watch something on TV tomorrow evening.
To that end, my main ‘exercise’ for the day will be moving stuff back and forth in the Entertainment center shelves so that I can remove several whole dog’s worth of hair. I even dreamed about it – it was so bad. When I get the Entertainment center shelves under control, I’ll vacuum the tiled areas and carpeted areas on the first floor, plus the three dog beds.
Yesterday I didn’t log as many steps as I wanted, using most of the day to try to help my husband with the TV issue. I only got one walk in, but then I went back out when he went down to get the mail and managed to blow the leaves out of the truck side of the garage, the driveway pad, the front sidewalk, and the front rock bed. That, combined with a good yoga session, was it for exercise yesterday.
Today I have a LOT of vacuuming to do. Add to that another good yoga session and my walking for the day, and I’ll have ‘moved’ my lard a good amount. :0)
I tried a new recipe last night for a “Keto Ground Beef Casserole.” The source is Lara Clevenger, a registered dietician and personal trainer. Since we were going to be busy and I knew I wouldn’t be in the mood to start cooking later in the day, I went ahead and prepped all of it to the point of pre-heating the oven and cooking. I kept it covered in my fridge. That worked out really well. My husband’s reaction was, “This is yummy. You can serve this any time.” I will definitely go back for more of her recipes.
I hope you have a really nice Sunday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
BoredPanda.com – Migle Miliute and Gabija Saveiskyte
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, punny
creativeartworksblog 