Petr Vaclavek started making figures from nature with/for his children. They ran out of chestnuts, started using acorns, and a new art form was born.
Petr calls his work “Dubanci” which means “Acorn Elves”
I love the way that his imagination seems endless, his characters carefully crafted, and the photography adds a whole new dimension to it.
He sells his work on Zazzle
He sells all kinds of products with photos of his work on them. You can even create your own greeting cards with his work if you would like. He provides a template!
I miss the feeling his work gives me, and so I revisit from time to time. I’m so pleased that this wonderful, creative father has found such acclaim for his talent – and a whole career!
Filed under acorn art, Petr Vaclavek - Dubanci.cz
Yesterday I brought a cloth ‘tray/basket’ from the pantry into the office and put it on the counter between my computer set-up and one of our printers. Jet immediately checked it out, clawed it a bit, and then made herself comfortable.
This morning she gave me a start when I was letting Amber back into the house. Jet was starting to squeeze under the dog gate that is between the kitchen/dining area and the living room. I managed to shut the door and encourage the cat to get on the other side of the gate. I then let Amber in, where she is between that gate and the one to the utility room.
The cat tower is due to be delivered by Fedex today between 10 and 2 today, according to an email they sent this morning. Since our driveway is such a mess, the guy will probably leave it at the bottom of the driveway. I’m hoping that if he does, he’ll send us an email saying it has been delivered. My husband and I will have to drive down and wrestle the heavy box into the back of the truck, and then into the house.
I’ll feel more comfortable when we have the tower assembled and installed – and the cat introduced to it – as that will give her another safe place to go if Amber scares her.
It certainly is a much more complicated task to get a cat and dog to accommodate each other when neither is a baby and the initial reaction is hissing and barking (from the cat and dog respectively). My husband asked last night how long I was going to go through all this, rather than simply ‘letting nature take its course.’ I told him that I would until I was sure that Amber wouldn’t eat or injure Jet, and that Jet wouldn’t scratch Amber, and that they seemed almost bored by things. Hopefully, my husband will continue to cooperate…
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No driveway repair today. I didn’t receive a text last night, as the man said he would send the night before they would be here to do the job. The weather has been really awful, putting them way behind on what they have already contracted to do for others. Until that is caught up, they won’t start on ours. The forecast for the week is rain and severe weather at LEAST for Wednesday and Thursday, if not more. UGH.
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Other than possibly receiving and putting together the cat tower today, we don’t have any other plans. I’m hoping for a quiet, calm day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
We bought this in 2007 and have loved it. I like the fact I can move some of the shelves up or down a bit to accommodate a weird size of something. It has two pull-out bins for produce and one full-size ‘deli’ pull-out tray with a lid. Each of these has a separate temperature control for those who know what they are doing – or THINK they do. (Like me :0) )
Lately we’ve been having trouble pulling out the deli-tray bin. It’s like it was STUCK on something or had something behind the tray.
We went grocery shopping earlier today. As always, I tried to do at least a quick clean out of the fridge, adding things to the shopping list as I do. When we got home and were putting things away, I noticed water in the bottom of the two produce bins. I pulled them out to dump the water out. When I did that, my husband decided to see if he could pull the top off the deli tray and get the tray out. He did get the top off, but couldn’t figure out how to get the tray out.
I pulled the tray part out as far as I could and we could then see that under the deli tray was ICE – a THICK layer of ice from one side of the fridge to the other. I couldn’t find an ice pick, so took my hammer and used it and the claw part to loosen some of the ice. I then spent about half an hour chipping, hammering and clawing ice out from under the tray. I cleaned the bottom as well as I could and dried it, and the tray now slides easily. We got the top back on, and the produce bins back in. I started the dishwasher and announced I was going to take a break and relax and drink cold water. I’m STILL over-heated from all the labor involved. It’s amazing how hard it is to loosen a thick sheet of ice and that many, many trips back and forth with bowls of ice and then the clean up wears an old person to a frazzle.
We have no clue why we had the problem, but it looked like it had been building up for a LONG time.
Now the afternoon is half gone and all I’ve done today is hard boil some eggs, get the fridge cleaned out of the ice, put the groceries away and run the dishwasher. I haven’t touched my to-do list for the day or done any exercising, other than standing on my head to clean the ice out of the fridge.
I’ll rest a bit and see if my energy comes back as my temperature decreases.
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
I found a nice article about a paper artist who uses paper and tape to create incredible artwork, plus more in paper mache’. The article was written by Ann Martin, who specializes in quilling. Her website is called, “All Things Paper.” Her article is about the paper artwork of Emma Hardy.
It’s hard to believe that these sculptures are made of paper and tape – even the tree.
I am currently doing three things to move the lard in an effort to keep all my parts moving in as pain-free a manner as possible for as long as possible.
THING ONE– Senior Online Exercise Videos by Mike from More Life Health Seniors – There are a whole series of these. If you’re interested, click on the link above to scroll through the offerings. I’m trying to do at least two different ones daily.
THING TWO – a 30 – 40 minute session of old lady stretching yoga daily. I have made my own series of stretches and positions now, but I started with a “Gentle Yoga ” DVD I purchased through Sixty and Me by Kat Kabira. She got me over my intimidation of the whole yoga idea, stressing that stretching toward, and breathing into, stretches and poses was as good for beginners as ACTUALLY being able to bend over and touch your toes, for example. I do a lot of “stretching toward” and “breathing into”, and I can tell you that I really feel the difference if I don’t take the time to do my practice.
THING THREE – And finally, I try to get outside daily (if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative) to get some fresh air, walk around, and do something good in the yard. It may be half an hour harvesting veggies, weeding flower beds, weed whacking, spraying bug spray or weed control spray, etc.
The combination of these three things plus watching my carbs and sodium is all working together in my efforts to lose the lard. MyFitnessPal.com is a free website where I can list my exercise, my weight and measurements, and the foods I eat daily to make sure I’m staying on track. I believe I have finally found a good, healthy combination to accomplish my goal of staying as healthy as possible as the years pile on. :0)
Filed under DIET!, exercise, taking care of yourself
When my mom fixed Thanksgiving dinner every year, I always wanted the drumstick. I don’t remember her cooking turkey any other time, but she did a great job making it a dinner to remember. She liked cooking alone, so my help consisted of setting the table and helping with clean up. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving celebrations each year were the turkey sandwiches in the days afterwards.
Now my favorite turkey sandwiches are a part of my low carb lifestyle, being modified to ditch the bread for me and substituting Mission Net Carb Zero Tortillas. They’re harder to eat, but delicious just the same.
And now, since I discovered that the deli turkey I had been enjoying for LUNCH for some time now was super high in Sodium (1018 mgs when a healthy amount is 1500-2300 PER DAY) I am now cooking my own turkey breast (carbs=0, sodium=47 mg).
Since one of my husband’s favorite things is turkey sandwiches, I can now use my tortillas and enjoy the sandwiches with him, free of guilt with a huge smile on my face – which we’ll do tonight! :0)
Filed under Favorite Things, memories, taking care of yourself
Hal and MaryEllen Thomson and my parents (Jim and Betty Wheaton) were friends when I was growing up. They were so close we felt they were members of our family. Both Hal and MaryEllen were artists. Hal liked to draw and paint. MaryEllen made bronze sculpture and also painted.
Hal commemorated many ‘events’ in my family’s life through his drawings. My parents liked them so much that they devoted an entire wall in the dining area (an open area connected to the living room) to Hal’s artwork.
The drawing above commemorated my mom’s selling of her first house as a new real estate agent.
My dad made his living through radio advertising in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He billed himself as the ‘second worst radio voice in Tulsa,’ (the first being a florist in Tulsa whose gravel-ly-voiced ads were just 30 seconds of her telling what the week’s special was.) He was in a men’s business club called “The Cosmopolitan Club” which did good things for the community. This artwork was when my dad was named, “Cosmo of the Year.”
This was a jab about ‘fish stories.’ My dad and his friends were famous for not being the camping/fishing/outdoors types.
My dad smoked heavily much of his life, suffering from emphysema at the end. True to their friendship, Hal commemorated the ‘event’ of needing help breathing.
I’ll be sharing several more during the coming days. These drawings are really special to me, bringing back memories not only of events in my parents’ lives, but also the special friendship of the Wheatons and the Thomsons.
Filed under Family, Friendship, memories
Jet spent almost an hour behind my husband’s computer monitors yesterday afternoon, just as comfortable as could be while my husband worked. I came in, deciding it was Amber’s turn for more active people time, so put Jet in her bathroom/safe place and brought sweet Amber into the living room/office area.
We may die of old age waiting for armistice between Jet and Amber. Jet is one year and two months old. We know she had one litter of kittens. That’s about all we know of her background, other than the medical history the shelter gave us. She is very curious and affectionate. She is VERY wary of the dog and went on instant alert, my husband said, when I found her and made sure she was on our side of the dog gate before letting Amber into the kitchen and dining area, between the two gates. The cat tower is due to be delivered tomorrow afternoon. We’re hoping she will consider that another escape area as well as a fun place, once we get it up and anchored. ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME.
We may also die of old age waiting for our driveway repair – due to Mother Nature, not the two good men with whom we’ve contracted for the job. They are experts and know what kind of time they need to do it. The younger man of the father and son team said he would text me the night before they plan to be here. Looking at the weather forecast is what has me NOT holding my breath – fingers crossed for tomorrow…
I hope that your Sunday is beautiful and that you make this a nice day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I found this on Pinterest, and it revived my long-held wish that I could draw. Of course, if I COULD, I would do little else.
It would be so satisfying to be able to create like this, making people REACT, with just a pad of paper and a pencil.
I have a book that, if you work your way through the lessons, teaches you to draw. (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards). I’ve tried it a couple of times now, making it through 2 or 3 of the 9 (I think) lessons, but then I bog down, totally intimidated.
Today I was reading through some of the reviews of the book, trying to get motivated to try it again. Someone said Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson was a really good book for people trying to figure it out, so I’ve ordered a used copy of the paperback.
I don’t expect to become the next Grandma Moses, but it would be really satisfying to be able to look at something, try to draw it, and have others recognize what it is, rather than feeling like a 5-year-old.
Filed under Dreams
I’m still trying to introduce Jet (our new cat) to Amber (our 95 pound yellow lab). So far, it’s quite explosive. Every day we’re careful to protect Jet because so far, Amber would try to hurt her.
Jet startles pretty easily now, still having so many things around her. She was in my lap in the living room when my husband started down the stairs. She freaked out, trying to escape. I managed to keep hold of her and took her to her shelf in the entertainment center (her safe place).
I’ve been putting Jet in the carrier and then taking both over to Amber, who is behind the dog gate. Jet immediately starts hissing. Then Amber starts barking and I stop the process, putting Amber out and trying to calm Jet down.
Yesterday it was maybe seconds longer before the fireworks started. It’s a process. I’m hoping both get bored with this gradually and eventually will co-exist.
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We ordered a cat tower which may arrive Monday. It will live in one corner of the living room beside the entertainment center. It has a piece where you can attach it to the wall, anchoring the whole thing. It seems like it’s well made and we’re hopeful that Jet will enjoy it.
Right now my husband is in his recliner, trying to entice Jet to come out of the entertainment shelf she has designated her place and come over to let him pet her. After she is out a while, we’ll put her in the back bathroom where all her stuff is and let Amber have his turn at free reign in the house.
Update – I just checked and Jet is sitting in my husband’s lap, looking very happy with life.
I’ll do my ‘introduction’ process a couple of times today.
Filed under Family
Even though our new cat looks miffed in this picture (she really didn’t like the flash I had to use) she has designated this shelf in our entertainment center in the living room as “her spot” thus far.
Amber is now behind the gate in the tiled areas of the house while the cat is free to roam. We’re letting her outside from time to time, and will CAREFULLY be trying to introduce these two several times today so they can learn to co-exist peacefully.
At lunch we’ll put the cat into the back bathroom where all her stuff is right now and let Amber be free in the house. We’re kind of walking on eggshells, trying to make sure we pay attention to details and make this day as calm as we can.
I’m leaning toward “Jet” as the cat’s name.
Mother Nature is not cooperating, so the work has not begun on repairing our driveway. The man said he would text me the night before they would be here. Since we’re still having possible severe storms this afternoon, the soonest now would be Monday.
I sold a package of hand-painted all occasion note cards on my Etsy site a couple of days ago. They were delivered yesterday. When I checked to make sure they arrived safely and the lady was pleased, she responded with a really nice note. I’ll be feeling ‘smile-y’ for several days now. :0)
I wish you a happy day.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
We adopted this female cat this afternoon. The shelter named her “Starlett” but we want to change that ASAP. Can you help us?
Filed under Family
I was disappointed yesterday to see my lettuce plants had bolted. Some were about 3 feet tall suddenly. It was clear that our season for fresh lettuce is over.
Our spinach is almost over. I’m going to get out again in a few minutes and harvest a bunch of it.
The happy thing for the day is that our tomatoes seem to be happy, and are producing lots of green tomatoes.
One of our favorite things in the world is ripe, fresh tomatoes sliced to eat with our lunches and dinners, not to mention cut up for salads. The only tomatoes I buy at the store anymore is cherry tomatoes, just for some color in our salads.
I love the fact that we can enjoy fresh spinach cut up in our salads.
We can also saute it as a side dish, or freeze it for cooking later.
This is just a bonus picture of my husband’s favorite flower, clematis. It’s blooming right behind the lettuce/spinach veggie planter, so I snapped a quick pic to share.
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
I’m a bit of two minds about laser woodworking.
My husband and I do mailbox decorations using images we get from the net. My husband uses a program to convert the image to computer language and we take this out to the shop. We put this into a computer and watch as the program guides a laser torch that cuts the design out of sheet metal. We then weld the piece on an attachment arm for the mailbox. We use an overhead projector to mark the salient points of the design and then I paint both sides of the piece.
Ex –
We add 3-D stuff, like the tubing above. My point is that although it’s a lot of work, we have borrowed the image, obviously, and then used a computer to cut it out for us. The only part done by hand is the welding and the painting.
These images are gorgeous. These are done by people using computers to create the images for them.
The images are incredible. The pieces are done very well, displayed well, and will look beautiful wherever displayed.
You can ask for custom designs from the artists, and they can create a piece using almost any image.
They are powerful.
I’m just a bit sad that people who actually carve images from wood MAY be at a disadvantage because their work cannot be as precise and detailed as these. It takes forever, essentially, to actually carve something, and they MIGHT be priced out of the market.
I’m glad that these are available because more people can enjoy beautiful things. I hope there are enough people with disposable income who can appreciate and buy the work of BOTH.
WoodyWooodStudio – Etsy
Filed under Laser Engraving Art, When Wood Comes Alive
Good morning! It’s quite overcast here this morning with a chance of rain. The bigger chance of ‘heavy rain’ is tomorrow – when we were supposed to be getting our long-awaited driveway repair. Oh, well.
My lettuce bolted and I had to pull it out yesterday. I’m going to try to get out and harvest my spinach before it goes, too. Both are cool weather plants and it’s been getting up in the mid 80s in the afternoons lately. Our tomato plants are doing well, though, and I’ll try to share some pics with you in another post later.
Our yard is looking pretty good right now (for us.) My husband mowed again yesterday and he thanked me again for my weed whacking and KillzAll efforts, which have resulted in a quicker, easier job for him. It definitely looks like someone lives here now :0).
I would like to get out and buy some flowers to plant today. We’ll see if the weather cooperates and the stars align…
Enjoy your Thursday.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
We have a quiet day on tap here. I’m planning to work some in our garden, continue painting the flying pig in the shop, balance checkbooks, and other exciting stuff.
I hope you enjoy your day, getting some nice hugs, belly laughs, and huge satisfaction.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
Filed under Blog Repost - Wonderful Posts, video
Beth Robertson Fiddes – @Beth_RobertsonF on X
I’m just in awe of this artist’s talent. It should be impossible to paint this well.
Deborah is Deborah Jaroscak, and she has a nice shop on Etsy called Artworks by Deborah As you can see here, she creates beautiful pet portraits, plus other art. I think she’s amazing.
Filed under Uncategorized
It’s quite overcast this morning, but it’s not raining. We have a bunch of errands to do today, so I’m hoping the weather holds.
I just looked at the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Friday, the day we’re supposed to get our long-anticipated driveway repair, looks like rain all day long. :0( I HOPE they’re wrong. The driveway guys have already given me Monday as an alternate date, so help is still on the way whenever Mother Nature will cooperate.
We celebrated the cooking of the turkey breast and the new meat slicer with turkey sandwiches last night for dinner. I made my husband’s with bread and mine with zero net carb Mission tortillas. I ALSO used some lettuce from our home-grown head lettuce! The sandwiches tasted really nice.
The refurbishment of the flying pig project (one of our metal critters we made long ago) is ongoing. My husband has agreed (thank goodness) that we can put him on a boulder at the side of the driveway at almost the top and he’ll look as if he’s about to fly off, rather than trying to stand on ladders and hang him from a tree branch again. I’m planning to wheelbarrow him out to the boulder so we can see if he’ll just stand there (he’s really heavy) or if we need to weld pads on the bottom of two of his feet to attach him to the boulder.
He’s been hanging from a really strong line from a tree branch over the driveway for several years. He finally came down in one of the severe storms we had and was lying in the driveway one morning. I’ve had to straighten some of the feathers of his ‘wings,’ pry off one discolored eye (the other one disappeared), wash all the dirt off of him, and am in the process of starting to repaint him. When that is finished, I’ll put new eyes on him.
Even if you’re not lucky enough to share your day with a flying pig, I hope you enjoy it.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________
I cooked a turkey breast this morning, then put it in the fridge to cool. I just finished cleaning up after using my new electric meat slicer for the first time.
I have to admit I was intimidated after reading the manual, which was mostly safety stuff warning me about cutting my arm off or electrocuting myself. It’s kind of amazing that anyone would try to USE this thing after all the warnings. (Kind of like the medicine advertisements that list all the side effects, including death).
Anyway, I was determined to use it, and do it safely. Here I am, typing away at my computer after using the new equipment, with arms and legs intact and not having been electrocuted, with the whole turkey breast neatly sliced and in a big bowl with a lid in the fridge.
Clean up was easy, as well. Mostly making sure I got all the little snibbles of turkey wiped off, then wiping it down with a soft, warm cloth. I took the blade off, too, to make sure there wasn’t anything caught behind it, and put it back on securely. (That’s done very well with the locking piece in the center. You turn it to unlock it with your fingers, hold onto the locking thing to move the blade, clean it, or whatever, and then use the holding thing to put it back on and turn the locking piece to secure it again. No touching the sharp part of the blade unless you want to.)
They warned not to use the slicer for over 10 minutes. I think I used it for 5 or less. It made quick work of the two halves of the turkey breast. There is a dial thingie to indicate how thick or thin you want the slices.
It’s all cleaned up and covered again. The sliced turkey is in the fridge. Instead of eating approximately 764 mgs of sodium with the deli turkey as a part of my lunch, I’ll be eating around 71 mgs. :0)
Filed under Changes, Cooking/Recipes/Low Carb Lifestyle, Delightful Surprises, DIET!
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