“Trees in Fall 2” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
favim.com
“The zoo and the monkey bars… and breakfast bars.” — Bennett, age 3
Source: “Kids respond: What are you thankful for?” by Christina Holt
Filed under holidays
When Amber and I were walking this morning, I saw a beautiful sight – everything in the yard was covered in stunning drops of water. It was completely still, so the water beaded up as if all had been waxed. I tried to get a couple of pics to give you an idea of what my world looks like right now.
Even the GRASS had droplets of water sitting on the blades!
Like a fairyland, except a bit too cool – at 42.
Filed under Arkansas, Delightful Surprises, Greenwood, Mother Nature
We ALMOST had deja vu last night while we were watching TV.
This time my husband motioned to Amber to come sit with him. She readily came over and walked right up into his lap, smiling happily. I looked over, careful not to say anything, and barely met her eyes.
I glanced over – our eyes met – and I saw something flash in them.
I immediately got up out of my chair and went over to sit on the couch. She bounded off my husband’s lap and came right over to me, planning to walk right up onto the couch! I said “NO!” sternly and then started to hug her. We spent about 5 minutes intensely hugging and licking (Amber, not me) and then she was finally satisfied. We got our close time in for the evening without her bounding into my lap and removing more skin from my arm in the process, a thing I really don’t want to repeat.
In many, many ways, we are seeing that Amber will become a wonderful companion, a fun addition to our family, and a great dog. We’ll be happy each day we put behind us on her ‘puppy-dom,’ though.
Last night, her stick fell between the huge dog bed she and Molly share and the wall. We have a heavy screen gate my husband made protecting the wall, so the stick became wedged. She instead ate Molly’s little dog bed that sat on top of the huge bed. We awoke to a whole utility room filled with the stuffing from the little bed and a totally un-remorseful puppy grinning at us, impatient to go out.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Heather Lara-webneeel.com
Paul Miners-minerswildlifeart.wordpress.com
Filed under animal paintings, Creativity
“I’m thankful for my parents’ ability to discern that one grunt mean yes and another grunt means I’ve gone #2 in my diaper.” — Dad on behalf of Finnegan, age 2
Source: Christina Holt – “Kids respond: What are you thankful for?”
Filed under holidays
books rock my world
I’m having a really good time reading lately. I’m in the middle of enjoying two authors that were new to me, plus re-reading books of a long-time favorite:
I feel rich, being able to enjoy the work of three great authors at the same time!
wallpapercave.com
We’re having a quiet, wet, cool morning here in Arkansas.
It’s 50 degrees, and there is either a ‘heavy mist’ or a ‘light drizzle,’ making it feel a bit raw if you’re out walking the dog.
Speaking of the dog,
Amber is 8 months old today. Last night she was doing her “lap dog” trick, climbing up onto my husband while he’s in his recliner.( This is pretty impressive because she weighs around 70 lbs now. ) I looked over at them and said, “Oh, you look like a happy girl!” and suddenly she JUMPED from my husband’s chair to MINE! Her paws or toenails grazed my arm as she landed; so, not only was I sitting, completely squashed by a dog desperately trying to lick my face, but I was yelling for my husband to bring band-aids! I wasn’t hurt badly, and I’m used to wearing band-aids as a fashion statement, although it doesn’t happen often anymore. Needless to say, we will discourage this ‘trick’ in the future.
In a couple of hours we’ll meet our good friend, Carla, for lunch in Greenwood at the new restaurant that just opened, called, “Shipwrecked.” They specialize in fish and chicken. I’m excited to visit the new place!
This afternoon I’ll be up in my art room, working on making Christmas presents for friends.
NICE day. I hope yours is fun, too.
Filed under Good Thoughts
funny-quotes.picphotos.net
And if you can look at this without mentally ‘singing’ it, my hat is off to you. :0)
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor
Christina Holt wrote an article called, “Kids respond: What are you thankful for?” where she listed answers from kids aged 2 to 12. I thought they were wonderful, so I’ve paired them up with some pictures of cute kids I found to share happy Thanksgiving thoughts with you.
cutelittlekids.tumblr.com
“I’m thankful that I love everyone in our family and that they love me too.” — Lizzy, age 8
Source: Christina Holt, “Kids respond: What are you thankful for?”
Filed under holidays
George Booruiy-www.thisiscolossal.com
Jason Morgan-fineartamerica.com
Filed under animal paintings, Creativity
Minions Fans via DoreenAdamson-Liber
Filed under Attitude, Bright Ideas, Childlike Fun, Favorite Quotes, Funny Signs - Humor
For the past two days I have been mixing and spraying weed killer. We’ve had really perfect weather for it, except for a bit too much wind, but I was able to work around that. It needed to be sunny and in the 70s or 80s, and we had both of those.
On Saturday I mixed and sprayed 6 gallons. Yesterday I did the same. There is always more than could be done, but I got a pretty good job done. If we get another good day, my husband says that if I’ll mix it, he’ll spray the weed killer up and down our 650 foot driveway – if I’ll drive down to the bottom and pick him up. :0)
Meanwhile, our work outside is done until the rains are finished for the week and it’s a bit warmer in the afternoons. I have to admit I feel pretty creaky today, so it’s a nice thing to be forced to work inside. :0) I tried to get down the awful, rocky slope past the civilized part of the back yard yesterday to spray the weed trees remaining, slipped and fell down, injuring my dignity, but nothing else. It took me several minutes to get up, since the bare rocks and dirt don’t provide good hand or foot holds, but I managed, inelegantly, to haul my rear end up and get back to the civilized part of the yard. Fortunately, one of my survival skills is the ability to stand back and “see” myself from a distance at times like these. I was laughing and saying bad words simultaneously.
I told my husband that we’ll have to burn the trees down or hire someone more agile than I to cut them down.
Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance
“Yellow Leaves 1” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Creativity, Embroidery/Sewing Art
galleryhip.com
I LOVE this sign! Maybe I’ll steal the idea and paint one similar this winter to put up on the driveway this spring…
We’re supposed to have good chances of rain Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday next week, with highs in the 50s and 60s, but no freezes. Right now it’s 80 and is supposed to get to 83 this afternoon, so I’m planing to try to finish my spraying for weeds. It might not be the perfect day for it, but it’s the best one I’ll get until the winter is over, probably.
We remembered about changing our clocks for Daylight Savings Time, but our dogs were still on ‘regular time.’ They woke us up, saying they were going to pop if we didn’t get them outside. We did that, but then waited until almost the regular time to feed them. Hopefully, this will be the only time they roust us.
We just got back for the weekly shopping for groceries. I notice that, even in a small town like Greenwood, Arkansas, as more and more states adopt higher and higher minimum wages, the companies are opting for more and more automation, in effect saying, “Yes, we’ll pay $15.00 an hour minimum wage, but we’ll hire a lot fewer employees.
Example – The local McDonald’s was torn down and replaced with a brand new model, even tearing out the concrete around it and replacing it. They used to have at least 3 or 4 people at the front counter to take your orders, make change, etc. The new one here has several ordering kiosks and only ONE employee in the front. There are a few tables where one can eat there, but clearly, the majority of the customers order to carry out or go through the drive-through. I guess there is one employee handling the drive-through traffic. All the rest of the employees are in the cooking or prep section that is closed off from the regular public part.
The local Wal-Mart closed down at least half of the check-out counters, replacing them with check-yourself-out machines. There is one person there who can help you or answer questions. It wouldn’t surprise me if they close down more check-out lanes in another 6 months.
I hope that you’re having great weather where you are today, and that you’ll either do something fun with the rest of your day, something productive, or both.
Happy Sunday!
Filed under Favorite Quotes, Funny Signs - Humor, Good Thoughts
source unknown
I’m a lucky woman. I’ve never had a LOT of friends, but I’ve always had GOOD – REAL friends.
I have friends I talk to every day via email, social pages, my website, my blog – some of whom I’ve never met face-to-face, but are close friends, nonetheless. Some of my relatives are cherished friends, as well. Some of my close friends I don’t talk to every day, but we reach out every once in a while, knowing we are special to each other.
My life is rich and full because I can reach out to these wonderful people when I’d like – or need to – and I hope they feel the same way. Other than the love of close family, nothing is as important as friends.
I’m glad we’re friends.
Filed under Friendship
Shelley Xie – “Pond Series” – 1 of 3 – http://www.art.com
Shelley Xie – “Pond Series” – 2 of 3 – http://www.art.com
Filed under Creativity, Fern Art
“Little Sparrow” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Pigeon” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under animal paintings, Creativity
Amber calmly walks over from her bed and ‘walks’ up into my husband’s lap. She stomps around until she’s comfortable, and then lets out a big sigh, happy at last. My husband laughs his head off as he’s getting pummeled, making her smile, as well.
I grabbed the camera and managed to get a couple of shots.
Happy dog.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
My husband likes to go to auctions. I hate those because you stand around at least half the day, waiting for the items you want to come up, and then are outbid many times by others, coming home empty-handed. I just don’t have the patience.
I love garage or yard sales. Everything is out where you can see it. You can quickly see the prices, decide if you want it, and buy it or not and leave quickly. What could be better?
We went to a yard sale yesterday and I found several goodies!
The lady having the sale told me that another lady had gathered these handkerchiefs with the idea of making a quilt from them, but then changed her mind. I got them for 50 cents a piece!
I love the salad spoon and fork, and the others are ice cream scoops. You can NEVER have too many of those…
This is heavy glass, with a light ‘frosted’ look on the outside. I just love it. ($5.00)
And this is heavy cut crystal! ($5.00)
I’m very happy with my new treasures!
Filed under Delightful Surprises, Favorite Things
community.brownpapertickets.com
I just finished getting a loaf of low carb bread started in the bread machine.
I feel a new sense of FREEDOM because I don’t have to worry about Amber –
our sweet, sneaky-Pete 70 lb lab ‘puppy,’ from sneaking into the kitchen, grabbing the whole loaf that is cooling up high somewhere, and happily taking it to her bed in the living room to devour. (She has done this twice now, of the 3 loaves I’ve baked). I received an email from Bob’s Red Mill, the company from whom I buy low carb bread mix and low carb baking mix, asking me what I thought of the products.
I ignored the survey, but answered, telling him that I love the chewiness of the bread, and loved the fact that it satisfied my craving for bread, I loved being able to eat it without guilt, and that it was good for sandwiches, wrapping around a hot dog, cutting it into shape to serve as a hamburger bun, toast, garlic toast, etc. I also had to tell him that it received Amber’s highest “Thumbs Up” award, as she had stolen the first two loaves I baked off the counter in the kitchen! I would imagine that he doesn’t get feedback like this every day…
My FREEDOM comes from the fact that we installed another walk-through gate in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen/pantry/dining area.
I was a bit careless about leaving things on the counters in the kitchen, but even with being newly careful about putting every bit of food away and keeping counters scrupulously clean, there are times when foods have to cool before they can be further handled. I now have the freedom to do what I need to do in the kitchen without having to worry about Sneaky-Pete-Amber.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Cooking/Recipes/Low Carb Lifestyle, Family
“Without a Care” – Leslie Harrison – http://www.wallcoo.net
Chandeliers & Pendant Lights – http://www.etsy.com
Filed under animal paintings, Creativity
Lisa Bearnes Richey
I’m not sure that this is always a good thing, but I’m sharing my life with one.
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
creativeartworksblog 