Monday 2-26-2024

“The Light of my Life”-Boo-@333too3 on X

It’s a pretty Monday here – quite spring-like, with a high of 83 forecast for this afternoon. We have a cold front coming through tomorrow night, reminding us that we have some winter left, but I think we’re through the worst of it now. Every morning when I open the front door, the sight of the daffodils blooming their heads off all around the well house makes me smile.

Our big things for today are 1) gathering the trash and putting it out at the bottom of our driveway, 2) getting our mail, and 3) voting in the Arkansas primary.

Yesterday I vacuumed a LOT, getting the first floor carpeted areas (our office, the foyer, and the living room) plus the tiled areas (the hallway, two half baths, the dining area, kitchen, pantry, and utility room.) The result was that when I emptied the jammed-full vacuum canister, I was throwing away more than a full dog’s worth of hair. UGH. You would think Amber would be completely bald now, but she has a full complement of hair ready to be shed…

lowbird.com-boredpanda.com

Yesterday afternoon I almost decided that all the vacuuming I did should count as my exercise for the day. Then I hauled my old, aching body out of the recliner and got down on the mat for my yoga practice. My husband happened to be reading in his recliner. I managed to do a good practice. I did 11 reps of my abdominal exercise and 5 reps on each side on my knee-to-nose-and-then-lifted-out-straight-to-the-back exercise, rather than 3. My husband nodded at me and said, “Good job.” I looked at him and said, “Tomorrow you’ll practice with me?” He looked at me, and then started reading again, not saying a word. :0)

Sent to me by Madeleine Jacobs

For some reason, one of our investment outfits decided to ‘recertify’ us or ‘update our records’, requiring that we send in everything including our first grade report cards to prove who we are. They closed down access to our account until we produce all this stuff. One of the requirements was proof of residence – with something listing both of our names. I don’t know if Arkansas is different than the rest of the states, but all the utility accounts are in the man’s name only. (I’m chattel, I guess.) We sent in our electricity bill, but they wouldn’t accept that. I finally thought of our reverse mortgage statement. It DID list both of us. We scanned that and sent it in today. Hopefully, that will satisfy them and we can have access to our account again… ARRRRRRRGH!

I hope that your week is a good one.

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Checking in With Curtis Wiklund

I hope our boys get your freckles, jordie.

Curtis and Jordin are photographers by trade. Curtis is a sketch artist by hobby. He creates sketches that clearly show his love for his wife and children doing ordinary things. Sometimes the sketches make me cry – both from the actual sketch and what he SAYS about them.

I’ve done several posts about this couple. If you’re interested, please scroll down to Curtis Wiklund Sketches for US in the list of categories to the right of this post.

Hayden-Life-Drawing
I-cry-when-I-look-at-you
morning-with-casen
Parenting – We are scaling mountains.

Curtis Wiklund Sketches

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I Love Peter Hogarth Art

Peter Hogarth – @peterhogarth55 on X

Peter Hogarth creates these beautiful portraits using pastels. I’m in awe of his talent.

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Sunday 2-25-2024

Daniel J Greenwood-@DigitalDanielG on X

Isn’t this glorious?

I really wanted to sleep later this morning, but my bladder insisted I get up. I’m still feeling a bit bleery-eyed, drinking coffee to try to wake up my system.

I’m feeling hopeful this morning, bleery-eyed or not, that the emphasis on lowering my carbs is getting the attention of my scales. I’ve lost 3-1/2 pounds since I started my new regimen. (No handsprings or anything, since I have a gazillion more to go, but it’s NICE to have the scales laughing a bit less several mornings now. )

I’m going through my Simply Keto recipe book, finding new recipes I plan to try, adding to my grocery list. I really like the fact that Suzanne Ryan doesn’t glory in spending time in the kitchen. Her recipes are simple, using ingredients you can readily find in regular grocery stores, and they don’t take a lot of prep or time. Just perfect for me.

Recently I used my spiralizer to make ‘zoodles,’ or pasta noodle type stuff from zucchini. The one zucchini yielded enough for three 1-cup servings. I ate one with my spaghetti sauce and froze the other two.

Love and Lemons

Today I’m going to make ‘cauli-rice,’ a rice substitute from cauliflower. I’m hoping that my efforts will yield enough for several meals. I’m going to cook some stew meat in my slow cooker, starting at lunch time, then combine that with Paul Newman’s Alfredo Sauce (3 carbs per serving.) I’ll serve that over regular rice for my husband and over the cauli-rice for me.

I have also discovered a way to work with the MyFitnessPal program better for ME – when I’m eating the number of calories I CAN eat, it tells me that, if I keep eating the same way, I’ll weigh “X” in 5 weeks. (The actual results of this is that I don’t lose weight.) If I eat fewer calories, it tells me, “You’re not eating enough.” I used to go find some foods to add to get the calories up. Now I list what I’m comfortable eating for the day, plus my exercises. If it says I’m not eating enough, it means that there is a chance the scales will show a bit less the next morning. :0)

I will earn my 7th star on my calendar this afternoon for daily yoga stretches. That feels good. My calendar is sparkly with the stars, feeding my spirits emotionally, and the yoga practice is making my body stronger and more flexible. Win/win.

So, feeling positive – even though still a bit bleery-eyed – on a beautiful Sunday. Hope YOUR Sunday is a good one, too.

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STILL Laughing Out Loud…

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Wonderful World of David Zinn

Nadine and Sluggo-Spa Day
Nadine Remembers Life on the Edge

David Zinn Chalk Art

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3-D Chalk Art 4

Realer than Real-ART-Allwomenstalk
The Best Slide-Amazing Artistry-Allwomenstalk
The Bridge-3D Sidewalk Art-Allwomenstalk
Under the Surface-55+ Amazing 3D Street Art-Allwomenstalk
White Water Rafting-Selection de Street Art-Allwomenstalk

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Saturday Thoughts 2-24-2024

Unsplash

I’m seeing a bit of progress in my efforts to get my act together. In my yoga yesterday, I was able to do 10 reps of my abdominal exercise (started with 5), and will earn star #6 on my week’s calendar on daily practice. (It felt really good just now to replace the words, “try for” with “EARN”.)

Second, I’m getting a good start on limiting my carbs. I’ve lost 2 lbs since I got serious, using MyFitnessPal.com to work out what I’ll eat for the day. I really like this website. I can type in the name of a frozen dinner, for example, such as Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken, and it has an extensive data base of foods, added to by their membership, so it’s easy to list and find out where it fits in my plan for the day. They have a place where you can list your own recipes and store them. I can ‘play’ with options for each meal, plus snacks, and see before I screw up how it will work, or if I need to choose something else. Really helpful website if you’re trying to lose weight or just make sure that you’re eating the right foods for a health condition, etc.

I made ‘zoodles’ yesterday. This is a staple for low carb foodies, zucchini taking the place of spaghetti and other pastas.

This is my spiralizer. You cut off one end of the zucchini, put it in the “thick” or “thin” end of the spiralizer, then twist the zucchini. Long ‘ribbons’ of zucchini are formed. The end you see to the right is used when the zucchini is too short to hold, but still has some good ribbons left to make.

I can make my own low carb spaghetti sauce, for example, make some spaghetti for my husband, and heat up a serving of zoodles for me, making both of us happy. One zucchini made three 1-cup servings for me. I froze two of them, eating one last night. Today I’ll make some cauli-rice, a substitute for regular rice. These two things are wonderful for me. They taste fine (although I do miss the real things), allowing my husband and me to eat basically the same dinner, making him happy and taking any guilt away from me, allowing me to stay on my low-carb regimen.

SO – feeling as if I’m making a bit of progress, I will continue ‘onward and downward’ hopefully, with more flexibility and a stronger, flatter abdomen. :0)

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Daffing

Our daffodils are blooming strongly now. This is about a month early in comparison to other years. The temperature is 65 and is supposed to get to 69 today. I’m really enjoying this, but a bit worried about how hot our summer will be, if this is already the end of the winter.

It’s funny. I’ve ‘cleared out’ the daffodils around the well house several times over the years and we still have a good amount for a display here. I’ve finally given up, letting them do what they will. I’ve relocated bunches, and so have nice yellow all around the yard now.

Such a happy flower!

We’re back from Lunch Bunch now. Patty and Linda were there and it was wonderful. We were the first ones there, so enjoyed talking with David, the owner of the restaurant and Mikey, our waitress. They had wondered why the Lunch Bunch group had quit coming. I filled them in on everyone being seemingly “too busy,” about my husband’s fall and broken collarbone, etc.

Time passes. Things and people change. We all get older and either deal well with the changes or don’t. We left it that Patty will text me the next time she and Linda can come.

I told them that my massage therapist was moving her services to the retirement place where Linda lives. I discovered that when I finish my massage is a good time to visit with Linda, so we’ll both look forward to that next month. :0)

My heart filled up with good hugs with Linda and Patty. We had lots of laughs, good food, news, etc. Wonderful time.

I will try to do something constructive with the rest of my day. I’ll do my yoga practice, maybe do a bit outside, and see how things are going.

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Embroidery Art

Annemieke Mein-runningwithscissorsstudio.blogspot.com
Girl Reaching-Di van Niekerk
huffpost.com
The Jump-Cristina Arcenegui Bono-based on illustration by Sveta Dorosheva

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3-D Chalk Art 3

NYC in London-Julian Beever-Allwomenstalk
Optical Snail-Simply Awesome & number 8280-Allwomenstalk
Pac-Man-Sidewalk Art-Allwomenstalk
Piccadilly Circus-2007 Kurt Wenner-Allwomenstalk
Pipes and Beauty-Julian Beever-Allwomenstalk

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It’s Friday 2-23-2024

Boo – @333too3 on X

I can’t believe the creativity and talent of this. I love it.

(Group Hug is an improv team in North Carolina.)

One of our Lunch Bunch people texted me yesterday, asking if my husband and I wanted to meet today! It will be wonderful to see them, hug their necks, and catch up. We haven’t seen them since we met before Christmas.

Freepik

I was messing around in the house when something drew me to the back door. I opened it to find it was RAINING – fairly hard! I don’t know how long it lasted, and my husband didn’t even realize it happened. Our weather is wonderful today. I’m a little worried talking about it, because this is SOOO unusual. I’ll try to be quiet and just enjoy it. :0)

Pinterest

My yoga is going well. I will earn my 5th star for the week on my calendar, and I was able to add one more rep to my abdominal exercises yesterday, now totaling 7. Slow and steady.

I keep INTENDING to work outside or to get up to my art room. Somehow, the day gets away from me. I hope that you are finding fun things to do, too.

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3-D Chalk Art 2

Dive In-SeaWayBLOG-StreetPaintings-Allwomenstalk
Down the Drain-Cookie in Bloom-Allwomenstalk
Down the Escalator-Funnies-Allwomenstalk
Hello Giraffe-ART-Allwomenstalk
Hot Lava-33Brain-MeltingWorksof3D-Allwomenstalk

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Exercise

johndrysdale.com-boredpanda.com

I have added an abdominal exercise to my yoga stretching practice.

It’s similar to this, but my arms are straight toward my feet. I hold it a second and then stretch out both arms and legs, making my body straight, feet NOT touching the floor. Then pull up and do it again. At first it was all I could do to do 5 repetitions, and my stomach muscles voiced their strenuous displeasure for about three days. I continued to do the 5 reps daily. On day 4 (yesterday) the soreness had eased quite a bit, so I did 6 reps. I’ll continue with this until I feel I can add another….

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Incredible Sarah Eden Portraits

Sarah Eden Portraits – @EdenPortraits on X

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Thursday 2-22-2024

Boo – @333too3 on X

I love it that she is creative enough to CROCHET her own companion. :0) I think he’s beautiful.

I’m trying to cut waaaaaay back on my carbs in an effort to lose the lard. I’m finding MyFitnessPal essential. I have a similar lunch most days, but today we stopped at the local grocery store/deli. My husband got a mashed- potatoes-with-chicken-tenders bowl. I got two chicken tenders. I discovered that two was more than I needed. I should have

  • only ordered ONE;
  • put one in the fridge before I started eating; or
  • stopped eating at one and stored the other for another lunch.
  • I did none of the above, so am over-full, but will do better next time. At LEAST I didn’t get the mac-and-cheese-and-chicken-tenders bowl I usually get. That’s a step in the right direction.

I just got on MyFitnessPal to record my lunch. We’re having the second half of the rotisserie chicken we got a couple of days ago for dinner. (my husband eats the breast and I eat the thigh and drumstick).

I was able to play around until I figured out what side I could have with the chicken and how much to stay within my new parameters.

Being able to play around BEFORE you make a mistake is a really good thing. It also reminds me that I’m trying to drink a bottle of water in-between each cup of coffee I have during the day.

@TwinMom – FreeImages.com

We went to the orthopedic surgeon this morning for a follow-up x-ray and checkup for my husband’s broken collarbone. The surgeon was happy with his progress. He told him to gradually use his left arm more, but not to strain it with anything heavy. We’re to call back if we have any problems. No more appointments. HOORAAAY!

After that, we dropped off our tax stuff with our CPA. When I told the receptionist about the broken collarbone, she went into the back and our CPA came out, wanting to visit. We caught up a bit and it was really nice. I still hate taxes, but we won the lottery with our CPA.

I managed to drag our trash can back up the driveway some to where it lives without falling on my head, so we’re good!

I hope that you’re having a good Thursday with nice weather.

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3-D Chalk Art

A Fiery Collapse – Edgar Mueller – Allwomenstalk
A Little Gift – David Zinn – Graffiti Plus Street Art – Allwomenstalk
A Pretty Pond – 3D Chalk Art – Allwomenstalk
A Whole New World – Kurt Wenner – Allwomenstalk
Chasing Waterfalls – 2012 Chris Powell – Allwomenstalk

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Mistake

sent by a friend – hahahahahahaah

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Daiga Dimza Art

Daiga Dimza’s art is included on the Duke Jacob Art site on Etsy. These artists are all from Latvia.

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Wednesday 2-21-2024

via @AnneWorner on X

I love this photo. Stunningly beautiful.

We are due for a truly amazing day today. Sunshine and a high of 80 – in February. If we are moving on to spring now, I really hope this doesn’t mean highs of 120+F this summer…

Our exciting day includes dragging the trash can back up the driveway to where it lives between times being emptied, getting our mail, and hitting the local grocery store to grab one of my husband’s staples he is out of, but didn’t put on the list or remember when we were at Walmart yesterday.

Tomorrow I’ll probably be later than usual on writing, since we’ll be going to Fort Smith for new x-rays on my husband’s collarbone and a follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon, plus a trip by our CPA’s office to leave our tax stuff.

I’m going to try to get out in the yard a bit this afternoon. I also have a pretty long to-do list to try to get accomplished.

One good thing – we’re having rotisserie chicken tonight, so I don’t have to cook. AHHHHH!

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Family

My heart simply melts watching this.

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Elina Birzkalne Art

Elina Birzkalne is a Latvian Artist. A group shares a website called DukeJacobArt on Etsy to show and sell their work. You can go to the site, type in Elina’s name and see all her work on the site.

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More Denise Fiedler Portraits

You sent photos of your pet to Denise and agree on details, and she creates a portrait for you from paper. I think these are super creative and quite distinctive.

Denise Fiedler Custom Pet Portraits

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Tuesday 2-20-2024

sent by a friend

We’re lucky to be having a gorgeous Tuesday here. It’s sunny and is forecast get to the low 70s today! But it’s FEBRUARY! Shhhh!

We didn’t sleep well. Amber decided something was trying to encroach in the middle of the night and started barking. I tried to ignore it, then got up to go down and talk to Amber and she stopped.

We did this FOUR. SEPARATE. TIMES. I’m still fantasizing about tearing her tongue out so she can’t bark. It’s amazing that a dog who looks so pretty and SWEET can drive you nuts. Anyway, we are all up now and halfway functional.

I have to tell you it was a pleasure to be able to fully use our master bathroom last night and this morning. Our plumber’s helper, Josh, was here right at 8:30 and put the new parts in my basin and draining system, then pulled the toilet, resealed it, and replaced the parts in the tank. We’re fully functional again. I have to put everything back under the sink and in the toilet part of the bathroom, but I’ll do that slowly so my back doesn’t yell too loudly.

Pinterest

I did my yoga practice like a good girl. I did a new abdomen exercise Sunday which made my stomach muscles sore – a very good sign. I did it again yesterday and will keep doing it until my muscles aren’t sore, at which point I’ll increase the reps. Did I tell you I love seeing sparkly stars on my desk calendar for my exercise? I will never outgrow that…

We had quite a nature-filled evening. There were deer in the driveway, setting off the driveway detector. When I went out to check, there were also several white-tailed rabbits playing in the grass between our house and our shop and a roadrunner standing on one of the woodpiles. We also heard a group of coyotes singing for a minute or two. It’s really a distinctive sound. Kind of eerie. I have no clue why they do it.

I’m researching modifying the way I eat. I’m trying to cut my carbs way back, but I’m not really strictly following the keto eating plan. My lack of gallbladder makes handling all that fat difficult at best. My plan is to just do about 2/3 of the plan, eating the fat naturally included, but not trying to eat more than necessary.

I have Simply Keto – a wonderful book by Suzanne Ryan – that explains what to do and provides recipes that we already know we like, such as Keto Chili and a breakfast quiche type meal that we eat for dinner. We’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed.

Have a great day!

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Diet Tip

sent by a friend

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Denise Fiedler Art

Denise offers custom pet portraits using pasted paper.

Denise Fiedler Custom Pet Portraits

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Sunrise

@MontanaRoots on X
@stan_sdcollins On X

Even though it’s Monday and maybe you didn’t start today in the best mood, I hope that these two photos from two people I follow on X will bring up your spirits. Our world can be so beautiful!

istockphoto-unsplash

Our plumber was due at 8:30 and he’s up there now working. He has to install a new part that wore out in my sink, and install a new seal in the toilet in our master bath. Hopefully, we’ll be in good shape when he finishes.

I moved our truck out of the garage first thing so I wouldn’t get penned in by one or two trucks this morning. I swept out the empty half of the garage. We gathered our trash and put the bags in the back of the truck so I can drag the trash can where it needs to be and put the bags in for pickup tomorrow. I’ll get the mail I didn’t get Saturday.

Freepik

I have a massage this morning and my poor body is crying, “YES!” I’ve missed two massages lately due to weather once and my husband’s fall the second time, so I’m really looking forward to Lynn’s help.

ClipartLibrary

I’m going to try to earn 7 sparkly stars for my desk calendar for practicing yoga stretches this week. I earned one yesterday for a good session. I’m really hoping I can build a ‘habit’ that becomes automatic. I can’t afford to be too lazy or ‘too busy’ to do this for myself.

MyFitnessPal.com

I’ve decided to make some changes in my eating, hoping to spur my system to lose the lard. I’m making the changes slowly but hope to see some starting results in a week or two.

Freepik

And that’s it for me this President’s Day. I hope it’s a good one for you.

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The Cutest Thing Ever

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Thinking

@urbanartist2 on X

I love this idea. It inspires me to try to ‘draw a line around my think.’ I thought of an idea for a Christmas present I’d like to try to make. I’ve printed an image to work from for a wood-burning project. We’ll see…

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Ribbon Embroidery

Di van Niekerk – Artist and Designer – DiCraft.com

Yesterday I was sharing some beautiful embroidery with you. A kind person commented to my post, confirming that it was, indeed, ribbon embroidery, and saying good things about Dicraft. I said I would check it out.

Dicraft.com is a beautiful website where Di offers freebies, books, supplies, designs, and kits for all kinds of beautiful embroidery. It’s amazing – truly. An example of this is that Di was frustrated because she couldn’t find ribbons she liked for her work. They just weren’t the color and FEEL she was looking for. So – she designed her own, using silk and organza ribbons, and painting the range of ribbons, and now selling them to the public.

If you’re interested, use the link above to explore the website. Warning: bring tissues because you might have a drooling problem…. :0)

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Sunday 2-18-2024

Gregorio Catarino – @gregcatarino1 on X

This painting lifts my spirits and makes me smile. I LOVE all the light, too.

I slept fine last night, but I keep finding myself staring into space instead of doing whatever it is I’m intending to do. Hopefully, my coffee will make me more alert.

We’re having a beautiful, cold morning here with lots of sunshine. The weekend brought us pretty cold mornings, but the weather forecasters are saying a nice warm-up for the next 10 days. YEA!!!

Today marks Week 4 since my husband’s fall. Last night reminded my husband that he has some healing left to do. He was in bed while I was finishing up. He said he would turn his bed light on, but couldn’t lift his arm to do it, having to roll over to reach the switch. We agreed that he’s healing well, but needs to be mindful that he’s not fully healed yet and needs to be careful.

I’m going to make spaghetti for dinner tonight, making enough for a couple more dinners that can go in the freezer. Yoga this afternoon, maybe art room, as well. I hope that your Sunday is an enjoyable one.

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