I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy the posts of these talented photographers on Blue Sky Social.
More Awe-Inspiring Photos
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
Penultimate Day of 2024
“Penultimate” means the last but one in a series of things. My husband really got my attention talking about the ‘prepenultimate’ something or other a while back, and today gives me a chance to USE a form of it. :0)
Why do I care? you ask. Well, to ME it means changing my wall calendars tomorrow and redoing my wipe-off kitchen calendar today in order to keep things flowing around here. Otherwise, you can chalk it up to “Linda being weird again….”
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We’re supposed to have a really nice day today – quite spring-like, with temperatures this afternoon in the low to mid 60’s, and NO RAIN – actual sunshine! Woo HOOOO! It’s been a long time. I will make SURE I get outside to give my thanks today.
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I THINK my frog piece is finished. I’ll check it again and then will list it in my ETSY shop later today. It was a fun piece to work on. I’ll post a picture here tomorrow.
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I hope you will feel hope in the new year.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Amazing Elephant Sculpture
I’ve always been fascinated by elephants. My mom loved them, too. She particularly liked BABY elephants. She would express her fantasies of having some baby animals from time to time, although she only actually had chihuahuas, three of them at a time, who all sat in her chair with her.
She saw a cute monkey one day, and in the next week, my dad had gone to a pet store and brought one home for her! The monkey got out of his cage and went on a rampage around our house. He jumped into the sink, grabbed a head of lettuce my mom was soaking, running all over the house, up and down the draperies, with the streaming veggie. My dad finally caught him using a towel. I still remember seeing the monkey’s teeth biting through that towel. The monkey went back to the pet shop for re-adoption.
So, one day when my mom started ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over a baby elephant, she looked at my dad and said, “BUT I DON’T WANT ONE!”
Filed under memories, Nick Mackman Animal Sculpture, sculpture
Intentions to Action
I display awards in my home for my procrastination skills. Well, not really, but I SHOULD have them. I am a master-class procrastinator and have honed my skills to a fine art.
I’m am trying to improve this, though, by tackling things that are difficult or downright intimidating at times. I think of this as a character-building exercise, and I can always use more of that.
I love the plaque above. (This Etsy site has all kinds of good signs you might like.) This one particular sign resonates with me, as I always have an excuse (or a whole list!) as to WHY I haven’t started things I would like to do or SHOULD do. The “Begin Anywhere” message says to me, start wherever you are and DO something toward the goal. No excuses. Just BEGIN. Today.
One of the things I ‘began’ on is trying to lose my lard and exercise to get healthier. I don’t remember now exactly when I started, but I’m finally making steady (though excruciatingly slow) progress toward my goal. I’ll be posting an accountability report for December on the 31st).
Another thing was to quit putting myself last. I would work like a nut daily trying to accomplish my hugely long and never-ending to-do list before I would give myself ‘permission’ to go upstairs and play in my art room. I would try to accomplish a certain amount before I allowed myself to write a blog post, something I truly love. I decided I didn’t need my ‘permission,’ and didn’t need to have accomplished a certain amount before allowing myself joy. Now I do the joyful FIRST, working in as many of the have-to’s and should-do’s from my list as I have time and energy for each day. Works for me…
I hope that you will embrace the idea of ‘beginning anywhere’ and make your own list. I think you will feel better as a person, be happier, and feel more in control of your life. :0)
Filed under Challenges, Changes, character-building exercises, empowerment, Encouragement
Sunday, 12-29-2024
For some reason I’m having trouble waking up this morning. I can’t use the rainy weather as an excuse, though, because we have finally gotten a reprieve. It’s cloudy, but it’s warm for December and it is NOT raining. HOORAY! I slept well, I think, so I’m hoping my trusty cup of coffee will do the trick. Can I blame my “sleepies” for any typos in this post?
We’re about to put December to bed, as well as 2024. My hair hasn’t quit blowing as the time sprinted by all year. I only write a few actual checks these days, but when I do, I still have to THINK to write 2024. 2025 may be a problem…
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My husband is sleeping in this morning. He is having trouble sleeping at the ‘proper’ time lately. He either has trouble getting to sleep or wakes up in the middle of the night and can’t get BACK to sleep. He sleeps a lot in his chair during the day. Since we are retired, it makes no difference at all when he can get his rest, and for that we’re grateful. I just adjust what I’m doing to be quiet when he’s sleeping, wherever he is, happy that he’s getting the rest he needs.
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I’ve started a new piece in my art room. It’s a frog, and I’m having a great time with it. I’m working on the wood burning part now. I love it that I learn so much with each piece I try. I learn more about what I can do with the burning tips, a bit more on how to shade the drawings, have a slightly better ‘FEEL’ for what I’m trying to do. I just love it!
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I hope that you have something fun planned for the day, spending time with family or friends, doing something special that brings you joy.
Enjoy your Sunday!
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Lighter Thoughts
Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs, punny
My Idea of Heaven 2
Filed under Decorating Ideas
Expectations
I had all kinds of thoughts when I came across this. The main one, though, is that we shouldn’t feel that we need to fulfill others’ expectations of us.
I guess we all feel the pressure at one time or another to dress and behave in a certain way. Some of this is good, but too much of it drowns the person within.
I’m glad I’m retired now for so many reasons. One of them is that I can be me. I can dress the way I would like, plan my day doing things that give me joy, ignore things I used to feel pressured to do or say. It’s freeing. It gives me peace inside.
My only regret is that I didn’t start doing this earlier. I now shed people I find over-critical, who make me feel ‘less.’ I embrace people who encourage me in my efforts to learn new things and be a better, healthier, and stronger ‘ME.” I say ‘no,’ to things I don’t want to do. I don’t apologize when it’s obvious that someone thinks I should leap to meet their needs, their expectations, and more. I’m learning to embrace the feeling of more control over my time, my feelings, my goals.
So, we can be like the sweet kitty above, who is trying to be calm when someone has decided this is ‘cute.’ I admire our Monster Cat, who actually bites us when we get too demonstrative in our affection. She knows what she wants, what she needs, what she will tolerate, and is trying to mold us into fulfilling her every wish. :0) A little of her attitude is a good thing…
Filed under Attitude, empowerment
Saturday 12-28-2024
I’m having a quiet Saturday morning so far. My husband is sleeping in after not being able to sleep well last night. I hope he feels rested when he comes down the stairs.
As I was dressing, we had a truly glorious sunrise. Usually, either I’m not up yet to enjoy one, or it has been cloudy or dark until later and I miss it. It was so bright it caught my eye from the window!
It has turned quite cloudy since I’ve been at my computer, and I just saw that we’re supposed to get rain starting around 9 this morning and ending around 6 this evening. Sigh. It’s a bit weird having spring at the end of December.
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This is the wood-burned and painted cockatoo I finished yesterday. I’m going to take pics and list it on my HandmadeHavenbyLinda today.
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Having the luxury of staying inside when it’s rainy is one I don’t take lightly. I hope that your weather is good – or if it isn’t, that you’re able to avoid being out IN it. Enjoy your Saturday!
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________
Lewis Driveway Tour 2
I took you on a tour recently from the bottom to the top of our 650+ foot steep driveway. TOUR # 1 . Today I’ll show you some of the ‘critters’ my husband and I have built and scattered around the yard.
We built this from a shovel, some rebar, scrap metal and googly eyes. He keeps watch on one side of our driveway pad.
We’ll continue the tour at another time.
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis yard art
My Idea of Heaven
You know by now that I will paint anything that stays still long enough. These gate and fence ideas simply make my heart fill up and spill over. The only fencing we do have is barbed wire, and we don’t have much of that, so things are ‘safe’ around here. :0)
I don’t see how anyone could look at these and NOT smile. They are so creative and different, cheering up the area around them.
And the idea of hanging baskets on the fence is glorious!
If you have a picket type fence, I hope you’ll indulge your own creative juices and paint them happy.
HMG – HomemadeGraceful.com – fence ideas
Filed under Decorating Ideas
Friday 12-27-2024
Karin provides my role model. Her work shows women who take joy in the things around them, embracing their animals, not caring what people think, just enjoying every moment to the fullest. May we all know this joy.
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We’ll go grocery shopping today and get our mail. That’s our exciting list for ‘out’ today. :0) I’m hoping that the crowd at Walmart isn’t much bigger than normal.
Otherwise, I’m hoping to finish the cockatoo wood burned and painted picture today in my art room. The jury is still out on whether it’s turned out okay or not. Fingers crossed.
My husband was up super early this morning. When you get more ‘mature,’ it is accompanied, many times, by difficulty sleeping. He is having more trouble than I am with this, and ends up sleeping a lot in his recliner during the day. I don’t really care WHEN he gets the rest he needs – just that he GETS it. So, as I type, I can hear him snoring. Amber is in the living room keeping him company, while Monster Cat is in the office with me, asleep in the basket on the counter beside my monitors. We’ll do our errands when he awakes.
It’s warm for this time of year – 53 degrees F., very cloudy, and wet outside today. We were supposed to get thunderstorms yesterday, but just got a bit of rain, so I can’t really complain that it’s rainy again today. Hopefully, we can stay at least reasonably dry.
The nicest thing happened yesterday afternoon. I was up in my art room and my husband came up with a paper plate covered by a paper towel and two forks. One of my dear friends baked a cheesecake and brought a couple of servings to us! She didn’t stay, so we dug in. Cheesecake is one of my favorites, but I only allowed myself two bites, giving the rest of my share to my husband, who happily devoured it with a grin on his face. It was YUMMY, and SO nice of our friend to think of us.
I’ve found a new yo-yo range on my weight. A 3-pound range that I’m determined will be a very short problem. Other than the cheesecake yesterday, I’m trying really hard to stay on my low-carb eating plan. I’m drinking a TON (more or less) of water, feeling as though my eyeballs are beginning to float. I HOPE that I can report some progress for the month at the end of this week. My mantra is, “SHUT MY MOUTH!”
I’m hoping that 2025 will be a good year for all of us. Maybe if we ‘hold-our-mouths-right’ we can MAKE it a good one. Are you with me?
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I Love These Drawings!
Filed under drawings
Booster
Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs, punny
Thursday 12-26-2024
I hope your celebration left you satisfied, maybe a bit too full, with a huge grin on your face.
I’m still feeling SO happy that our son and I enjoyed our conference call yesterday morning. Really the best gift I could have gotten. I love his face. I’m still having happiness bubble up that he has several projects going that he is finding fun and challenging, things are going well, and his part of the world is relatively safe.
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Outside it’s dark and gloomy here, with thunderstorms on the way this afternoon. If we can do it without drowning, we’ll drive down to get our mail and drag our trash can up. If not, we’ll hope for better weather tomorrow.
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I got started on my new wood-burning project yesterday – a cockatoo. This will be a real challenge, as the bird is mostly white. It will be really difficult to give the bird definition. The main color will be the background, and I’m trying to keep that simple this time. I got the outline of the bird wood-burned yesterday. I’ll start the shading today. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. FUN project!
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We had a challenging afternoon, since my husband was determined to get Netflix to stream on our TV. He had done all kinds of things before he asked for my help. We spent much of the time undoing what he had done. We canceled the account he set up on the computer and signed up for another from the TV. We finally got things to work and he watched a movie yesterday afternoon-into-the-evening. WHEW!
NOW I’m trying to get him to really understand that this account is for STREAMING a movie right then, not taping for later. This will require a real change in his habits. I set him up with a pad of paper and a pen so he can write down what he wants to see and then access each when he’s ready to watch. We’ll see how this goes…
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Enjoy your Thursday, safe and warm and dry, if possible. :0)
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Merry Christmas From Vince
Indian Hills Signs – Vince, the Sign Guy
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Indian Hills Signs, punny
Michele Clamp Art
I wish I could do watercolor like this. I love the loose, free style. I think her work is fabulous.
Filed under Michele Clamp Art, Watercolors I Love
Karen Fawcett Wildlife Ceramics – Encore
Filed under ceramics, Clay Art, Karen Fawcett Wildlife Ceramics
Other Thoughts on Christmas 2024
This is the wood-burned and painted piece I finished yesterday. I really enjoyed working on it, and already have another piece in mind to try. I listed it on my Etsy site last night.
We’re having a crock pot dinner tonight – not at all Christmas-like – a request from my husband for a chicken dinner he really liked the last time I cooked it.
My husband slept in this morning and our animals staged a protest, going up and down the stairs, meowing (in the case of Monster Cat, I think) and wagging her tail against the bedroom door (in the case of Amber) who sounds like the world may be coming to an end. It doesn’t seem to bother her to beat her tail against something with vigor. I would think it would hurt… Anyway, the message was delivered, my husband got up and came downstairs, and our Christmas Day was officially started.
Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________
Christmas 2024
We’re having a quiet Christmas, just my husband and I, this year. It’s warmer today, 49 degrees as I type this, but it’s still gray and gloomy-looking. A great day to stay in, relax in our recliners, maybe have a snooze. :0)
Our son and I had a conference call this morning, and it was the best gift ever. I love seeing him smile and laugh, catching up on what he’s doing, planning, and more. I got everything except one of his good, strong hugs. I’m still smiling.
One of the best Christmases ever when my brother and I were growing up was the one when my parents got each of us a 3-speed English racing bike. The controls were in the handles. One grip was the brakes. The other was the gear shift. They were light-weight, sleek, pretty, and fast. We were both in Heaven.
Back in 1492 when we were young (:0) we had freedom that kids can’t enjoy now. We lived in an area of Tulsa, OK where there were two parallel streets a mile long, called Johannson Acres. Each house was on an acre and a quarter lot. My friend was down the road from us, and I immediately leaped on my new bike and sped off to see my best friend, Ann Bulloch. I practically lived at her house. Her mom was the ‘perfect’ mom, always with a fresh batch of cookies, or offers to share a meal, spend the night, start a summer business in her yard, and more. They oohed an ahhed over my new transportation.
I loved the bike, racing all over the place in complete freedom. A wonderful memory of a very special Christmas for us.
Enjoy your celebrations today. Take time to give everyone a special hug. There is nothing more important than family. Merry Christmas, and may 2025 be a wonderful year for you.
Filed under holidays, Thoughts on a ________
Day of Playing
Since we’re having a quiet celebration at home today and tomorrow, I’m looking forward to playing in my art room.
I’m working on a new piece – a wood-burned and painted kingfisher on a nice piece of wood.
I’m painting it now, using a combination of alcohol inks for the background and acrylics for the kingfisher.
I’m learning so much each time I try to wood burn a new piece. I am now dreaming about other projects I’d like to do, so I’m hoping I can arrange time up in my art room to try to get them out of my head and onto whatever material is required.
My newest challenge up there is that Monster Cat – aka Jet – desperately would like to come in and wreak havoc. I shut the door firmly and she waits outside, no matter how long I’m up there, meowing plaintively. It hurts my heart to hear her, but she really is a maniac when she is curious – which is all the time – and would really cause problems. My wood burning stuff is hot, too, of course, and I don’t want her (or me) to get burned.
So I turn up my music and drown out her meows, losing myself in the joy of playing.
Filed under playing in my art room
Wish I Could Draw Like This
Filed under drawings
Gifts from Photographers
My heart fills up and overflows when I see the beautiful photos by talented people on X and Blue Sky Social. I’m delighted to be able to share their gifts to us with you.
Taking us to places we will probably never see in person.
Expanding our horizons and visions of the possible.
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
Christmas Eve 2024
Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you are up to your ears in love and laughter today – Smiles and hugs – Food you might not be supposed to be eating delighting your mouth. Enjoy every minute of this day.
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Here in Arkansas, I’m trying to wake up. It’s dark and rainy outside, which isn’t helping. I’m glugging coffee, and that should. It’s 48 degrees, so I don’t think we’re in for anything severe, just making it a really great day to crawl under my throw in my recliner and catch some z’s. My husband is sleeping in this morning and Amber and Monster Cat are going up and down the stairs, trying to make enough noise outside his door to wake him up. Even though all the morning chores are done and both have had breakfast, their day doesn’t officially start until he is up and functioning. :0)
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I saw two good friends yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t seen either of them in the longest time and it was truly wonderful to hug their necks and take a bit of time to catch up. Thankfully, both are doing well. They both seemed to like the personalized bookmarks I made for them. Friends are one of the true joys in life. You can never tell them how much they mean to you. Even though I can’t visit often, I’ve made a promise to myself that I will text them on a regular basis going forward. AND my husband was fine when I got home.
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Enjoy your day, cherish the memories you’re making. Make today super special.
Filed under holidays, Thoughts on a ________
Drooling Over Pottery Again
It’s a good thing I don’t have any money. I wouldn’t be able to house all the wonderful pottery I see and want! :0)
Books and Coffee
I can’t imagine a life without books. To say I’m a voracious reader is a vast understatement. I’m usually reading at least two at once. We have books in every room of our home. We built floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in almost every room and we still have to juggle to find room for our collection.
I’ve loved reading from the time I was very small. I sat in the middle of my parent’s living room, watching my dad devour a book on geology, my mother with her lapboard, working the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle, and my brother reading a comic book. Frustrated, I finally blurted out, “I wish to HELL I could read!” After several moments of complete silence, my mom sat on the floor and started to teach me.
Now I have a master’s degree as a ‘Reading Specialist,’ taught in the public schools in Tulsa OK for 8 years (getting in trouble for teaching phonics to my kids while playing my guitar.) I ran my own reading clinic for three years, helping a lot of kids discover they WEREN’T ‘stupid,’ teaching them the keys to making sense of it all.
Between books, the Internet, and YouTube now, there isn’t enough time in the day to learn all I would like. I love the fact that you can learn so many things in the privacy of your home that may change your life.
I have favorite authors – Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, Robert B. Parker, Lee Child, Grisham, so many others; and it’s a gift that I’m discovering new authors, such as R.G. Ryan.
I hope that kids are receiving books this Christmas and that their parents are reading to them, showing them how much fun it is to read and learn, helping them get books from the library and build their own collection – encouraging them to escape from current worries, to dive into other worlds.
@becauseallthebooks via G. Loganberry
Filed under Reading is FUNdamental
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