Tag Archives: Mother Nature

May 24, 2020 · 9:29 am

Denial

PictureQuotes.com

I’m going to have to switch gears for the coming week, starting today – hopefully.

I’ve been working outside, whacking down weeds, cutting back trees, spraying weed killer and ant killer, etc., in an effort to keep Mother Nature from reclaiming the totally wild, wooded land we bought around 33 years ago now. (We built our home on top of this ridge line in 1987.) This is a full-time, never-ending job, and I have to say that we grow some really healthy, impressive weeds here. Some of them are taller than I am!

Last night, while my husband and I enjoyed a much-appreciated evening on the deck while grilling our dinner, we talked about the fact that the ‘weed trees’ were again encroaching on our view of the valley below. The slope of our land is impressive, too, and there are totally rocky places where it is treacherous to even think about walking. This is where the weed trees are. I am going to attempt to cut these down, a few at a time, over the coming weeks to try to reclaim our view.

This gives you an idea of what we can usually see.

 

That said, here is the 10 day forecast for our area –

 

Maybe I should be trying to built a raft or boat instead of thinking about weed whacking….

The end result of a forecast like this is I want to take a nap. I feel super lazy. I can’t even get excited about playing in my art room right now, though that could change once I’ve finished my coffee.

The only thing I PROMISE I will do today is make a ‘sausage-egg-and-cheese bake’ for our dinner tonight. This is a wonderful keto recipe from Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto.  My husband grinned and gave a happy thumbs up when I told him what I planned to make today.  Actually, I’ll promise another thing – I will do at least 35 minutes of gentle yoga stretches today.

Otherwise, I’ll have to fight my natural inclination to stretch out in my chair in the living room under my snuggly throw and take cat naps (with at least one, if not two, actual cats!) today.

I hope you have a happy Sunday.

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May 23, 2020 · 9:26 pm

A Perfect Evening

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We had a beautiful day today. In the hope we would ALSO have a beautiful evening, I thawed a steak we had kept just for an evening like this. I marinated it all day in the fridge, hoping that Mother Nature would be kind.

The weather could not have been more perfect!  The sun went behind some clouds. We had a nice, cool breeze. It was quiet. We had our animals playing around us. My husband enjoyed a beer – a nice gift for him, and I had a cup of coffee sitting in one chair with my feet up on another, totally relaxed, drinking in the gorgeous evening.

We chatted, laughed, and had the best time. As the sky darkened, I plugged in the rope LED lights we have strung around the inside edge of the deck roof so it was festive.

The steaks and salad tasted really nice.

DOUBLY nice because we have rain in the forecast every day, starting tomorrow, through the END of next week.

A reminder to enjoy each day as it comes!

AHHHHH!

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May 21, 2020 · 1:56 pm

In the Middle of All This –

Slice of Life

we remember there is beauty all around us, if we just take the time to look and appreciate. Fill your soul.

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May 16, 2020 · 11:20 am

Active Morning

National Geographic

We caught the second member of the raccoon family overnight that not only cleans out each and every seed in all the feeders, but trash the feeders, as well. We have a humane trap that allows us to ‘relocate’ the raccoon elsewhere, hopefully far enough from our house that he doesn’t return.

On the way down the driveway, we noticed leaves all over that indicated we had yet another gusty storm last night. At the bottom of the driveway, we found that the robot we made was leaning over, caught by the two chains we tied on him and attached to trees. One would THINK that when a robot weighs 150 pounds, one wouldn’t have to worry about him blowing over. We learned the hard way many years ago that it is REALLY difficult to stand up a heavy robot that has fallen off the driveway down to the slope beside it. Thankfully, it is now an easy thing to pull him upright.

Lewis welcome robot 

If you look carefully, you can also see one of the two owls we made for either side of the driveway.  Each sits atop a pole. (We have a closure we could swing shut to block entrance to the driveway.)

So this morning we have pulled the robot upright, relocated a raccoon, and I’ve started regular chores. We will have lunch soon.

I’m going to try to check my garden veggies today before the forecasted rain begins. Once it starts, it’s supposed to continue until the end of the day tomorrow.

I hope you are having a good Saturday.

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May 5, 2020 · 10:50 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday – May 5, 2020

Simply-Beautiful

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Some really good friends of ours celebrate an anniversary today. I wish them many, many more happy years together.

Last night my husband and I cooked out on the grill for dinner. Severe weather was forecast, but we decided we would go ahead with it, hoping we could finish before the rain started. We have an LED rope light that we strung around the deck top, and I plugged those in while we sat and talked, enjoying the cool down and the breeze while the meat cooked. The lights instantly make us feel festive!  We got our dinner cooked, and I stored the grill cover on the back porch as we went inside, having lost one before in the same situation.

As we sat down in the living room with our dinner, the rains started. They came in waves, sometimes quite hard. It was loud, too, with lots of lightning and wind. I closed the garage door, finally shutting the front and back door due to the blowing rain. It was quite something.

This morning the sun is shining and all is quite beautiful. It amazes me that it can be so fierce during the night and so lovely the next day. There are leaves and small branches all over the front yard again. (I just cleaned up a big bunch from the last storm.) I have not found any damage yet. Our tomato plants are still looking good. I’ll give them closer attention this morning, as well as check on our garden veggies to see if all is good out there, too.  I’ll try to get some pictures to share with you.

I had a wonderful thing happen this past week. I received an order for a set of glassware on my painted glass website.

I was slow acknowledging the order due to our severe weather causing Internet problems. I wrote the customer, apologizing for the delay. He was very nice, saying they had the same problem where he was. He received the glassware yesterday. I wrote to see if they arrived safely and if he was pleased. He said, “Hi. I just opened them and they are wonderful! Thank you so much. I will be using them a lot.”  Needless to say, I’ve been walking about 3 inches off the ground, grinning like a nut…

My friend Kay from Lunch Bunch called me yesterday, asking if my husband and I wanted to meet this Friday, having our lunch served outside at the picnic table our restaurant has set up. This will depend on the weather cooperating, of course, but I said an enthusiastic “YES!”  Fingers crossed Mother Nature will be in a good mood.

I hope that you are having a good day today.

Hope is in the air!

 

 

 

 

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April 23, 2020 · 2:16 pm

Our Plants Survived!

I went outside with trepidation a few minutes ago to see what was left after the wave after wave of hard storms we had yesterday and throughout the evening. I noticed hail hitting the dining area window a couple of times and feared my new tomato plants and veggie garden would be beaten to death. As you can see from the photo above, the tomato plants in this planter are fine! Hooray!!!!!

 

This is the second planter for tomatoes. This one is more sheltered than the other, but nothing will help when hail is coming down. I was really relieved to see all the sweet tomato plants are still doing well.

I walked to the other end of our property where our raised bed square foot garden is. I could tell the water came up high on the plants before draining out, but nothing seems to be broken or beaten down.

This shows you some of the head lettuce and the red onions.

 

A couple of spinach plants, but mainly head lettuce.

And the spinach. As you can see, the plants were almost covered with water and soil by the storm, but then the drainage did it’s job.

We seem to be due for more storms tomorrow, but we have dodged another bullet, and I’m grinning from ear to ear.

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April 23, 2020 · 2:06 pm

Our Favorite Rose Bush

Our favorite rose bush is called Rio Samba. We have no clue what we’re doing on growing roses, but this one seems happy with us. We have three of these. You are looking at three photos of the same rose bush from different angles taken just a few minutes ago.

We love the fact that we have so many different colors on the same bush, depending on how long the rose has been blooming.

 

When it is a bud or very early bloom, the flower is bright yellow with a swash of coral. When it opens completely, it is still yellow, but has coral edges and the older petals start to turn a much milder coral.

When if is almost ready or ready to prune, the whole blossom is a sweet shade of coral.

 

 

There are few things that lift my spirits as much as visiting our rose bushes this time of the year. They give me hope that things will one day be back to normal, in the normal flow of nature.

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April 14, 2020 · 10:27 am

Thoughts on A Tuesday 4-14-2020

New Animalbook

  • I seem to be UNABLE to stop touching my face!  I’ve tried several things without success. As much as I pull on my nose, I should look like Pinocchio!
  • I am using every excuse in the book (and even inventing some new ones!) to cheat on my diet and exercise.

Fat Animals-Rollin Wild by BMC-Nasim Biswas-2018

Each day I ‘start over’ in my mind, looking forward to exercising and eating right. Maybe TODAY I’ll get going again!

  • My sweet veggie plants and new tomato plants made it through another freeze. As far as I can tell, this is the last time I’ll need to cover everything. I have the first load of sheets in the washer to get all clean and dry for when they are needed again. If the weather warms up (it’s 40 now) I’ll try to get a good start on getting the TEENY, TINY weeds out of my veggie garden today.
  • My goldfish have done their trick of dirtying up their aquarium again, so cleaning that is on the agenda for this morning. Happily, I am able to get everything out, clean the aquarium and put all new stuff in it in about 35 minutes now.
  • I have an idea for a painting rattling around in my head. I’ll try to get up to my art room today to get a start on it.
  • Bacon-wrapped keto chicken is on the menu for tonight. I’ll fix a nice salad – with spinach and lettuce from our garden – to go with it.

I hope you are finding good ways to spend your days as we all hope that we can put the threat of the virus, as well as financial worries from the economy being shut down, in the rear view mirror.

Stay safe and well.

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April 13, 2020 · 3:02 pm

Hope Springs 2

Yesterday, before the weather changed, I cut two roses to bring inside. I can FEEL my spirits lifting when I look at these!

I drowned yesterday morning covering up the plants in my square foot garden boxes plus my two planters of new tomato plants because bad weather and plummeting temperatures were forecast. The plants were covered all day and all night. We had at least two rounds of severe storms, some with hail, followed by a freeze.

This morning they were still alive! They are looking a bit ‘tired,’ but I think they are okay. I was planning to go out and weed in the garden, but the temperature never got above 40 here, with enough wind to make it uncomfortable outside. Hopefully, I can get rid of weeds tomorrow.

 

I hope that you are safe and well. I also hope that you – also –  are finding things that give you hope for the future.

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March 29, 2020 · 9:48 am

Happy Wisteria

We have been working to get our wisteria to grow from its base in the planter on the right of the photo to a tree off the edge of this picture on the left.

 

A closer view. Things are looking more lush each day.

 

This fills me with hope for the future. It makes my heart sing.

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March 28, 2020 · 4:05 pm

Timing Is All

Very Well Family

We went out to get supplies this morning. Just as we were coming out of the store, the rain came down. By the time we had all the bags in the truck and I had returned the cart, we were both dripping. We stopped at one more place, getting even wetter, if possible, and then came home. Of course, as soon as we came home, the rain stopped. We put things away, made lunch, and then both fell asleep in our chairs.

The sun is shining now and you would never know it happened. It almost makes me feel as if I dreamed the whole thing! Such is life in the exciting Lewis household these days. Timing is all.

I am trying to have a specific goal for each day, particularly since we are trying to stay home and limit our exposure to the virus. Today the goals were replenishing supplies, paying bills, catching up the bookkeeping, and cleaning out the aquarium.  The first two are done…

Be safe.

 

 

 

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March 27, 2020 · 5:45 pm

Thoughts on a Friday 2-27-2020

Patrick van Bakkum Photography via Penny Yaffe Krakow

My heart simply melted when I saw this wonderful photo, so I had to share it.

I FINALLY finished the initial yard work for the season this afternoon!  We have been battling true champion weeds – and LOTS of them, even though we spread weed killer in the yard. I finally finished pulling all the weeds out of the rock bed that goes around the base of our house. When things get back to normal in the world, we’ll get more bags of rocks and spread them. In the meantime, my husband did what HE calls spraying for weeds in the bed today. We’re due for rain tonight into tomorrow, but once we have a dry day, I plan to hose down the rocks with weed killer in a more serious fashion. I also trimmed the edges of the grass, weed whacked around the back yard, and then used the leaf blower to clean things up before our rain this evening.

I’m going to do a long, slow session of yoga stretches and then take a long, hot shower to try to get my body to quit yelling at me. I’m tired, but the main thing is that the back of my legs didn’t like all the getting down on my hands and knees to pull the weeds out of the rocks.

We called in for lunch, and my husband did the curbside pick up, and got our mail while he was out. I got a roast in the crock pot and we’ll have that, plus the leftovers from the squash casserole recipe I tried yesterday. It was really good.  If you’d like to try it, the name is, “Low Carb Yellow Squash Casserole” from  allrecipes.com.  My husband was kind of expecting the casserole his mom made years ago, even though he knows we are trying to eat low carb, low sugar, etc. He asked what the ‘crunchy stuff’ was. When I explained that this recipe substituted almonds for crackers, he decided he liked it a lot. :0)

I hope you had a good day and that you and your loved ones are staying safe.

 

 

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March 14, 2020 · 11:58 am

Happy Veggies!

Science | How Stuff Works

Spinach

 

Sweet Red Onions

 

Head Lettuce

 

 

 

My veggies were smiling when I went out to take these pictures this morning.  Everything seems to be doing very well now.

I told you how hard I was trying to get the irrigation system going for my garden a couple of days ago. If my husband and I couldn’t get it going, I was going to have to fill my watering can over and over to give them a drink. We FINALLY figured out why we weren’t getting water in the outside agricultural water faucet we have – a faucet control in the well house was turned off instead of on.

Now that it is running perfectly, and the timer is set for daily watering, we are getting rain every day from yesterday through Thursday of next week. A beautiful illustration of Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives.  (Finagle’s law of dynamic negatives (also known as Melody’s law, Sod’s Law or Finagle’s corollary to Murphy’s law) is usually rendered as “Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment.”)  We also have it to mean “the more you need it, the harder it is to fix” or “you will get it fixed when you no longer need it.” 

My garden is such a joy. The boxes we built allow me to continue gardening with pleasure, not having to bend over double or get down on my hands and knees over and over. The fence keeps large critters out. The chicken wire around the bottom keeps small critters out. The Mel’s Mix in the boxes (peat moss, vermiculite, and as many different kinds of compost as you can find or make) allows plants to grow well and happily, not having to depend on the quality or quantity of our soil.

The cool weather crops, spinach and head lettuce, will hopefully do really well before it gets too hot here. The red onions will stay where they are until harvest, probably in October.  When it gets a bit warmer, I’ll add yellow squash and radishes, if not some other things, to the garden.

I have two large brick planters on the other side of the house that we converted to be square foot planters. We devote both of them to tomato plants.

So far, I have smiling, happy veggies. Fingers crossed that this will continue.

Have a happy Saturday!

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March 12, 2020 · 4:30 pm

I Love Trying to Grow Things

Gorilla Love – Unknown – via Penny Yaffe Krakow

Head Lettuce

Red onions

Head Lettuce and Red Onions

Spinach

I have a funny problem. I was just out weeding and cleaning up the plants a bit. We have had a lot of rain lately, but most of it is going around us, rather than watering the garden. I decided to hook up our irrigation system, uncovering things for the first time this season. My control for the watering needed a battery, so I came back inside to get one.

When I went back outside, it was raining! Hahahahahaha!

Now that I’m writing this post, it has stopped.

Mother Nature is playing with me and laughing.

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March 1, 2020 · 8:27 pm

Rich in Daffodils

Today was spring-like, but grim and gray. When I walked around in the yard though, after we got home from errands, I couldn’t help but grab my camera and try to capture the richness of our yard right now.

 

There is still the hole in the middle of the yard where we had to dig up a large part of it to find the leaking water pipe. I told you we managed to roll the rock over the edge of the world, but the hole remains. It now has some dark potting soil, but it’s still an eyesore and will be until we are confident the mower won’t sink down into the hole, and the grass once again covers the area. Even with that, the daffodils take my breath away.

Each year I did up some of the bulbs and plant them in another spot. I’ve done this for several years now, so clumps of daffodils are blooming all over the front yard and we now have a couple of clumps in the back. (The one above is “Debbye” in full bloom now.)

Big happy daffodils in several different shades of yellow and styles, all living together. Long stalks heavy greenery, bringing up my spirits.

These are beside the well house. We have dug them up twice, thinking we got them all, and yet they continue to bloom year after year.

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February 10, 2020 · 5:30 pm

Poor Stupid Daffodils!

Our weather has been really strange this winter. We’ll have a cold snap, then spring-like weather, then cold again – then a pretty snow, then thunderstorms. It’s no wonder my daffodils are confused.

 

“Friendship is a shiny thing, a steady beam of light
A lantern on a lonely street, a song far in the night
A smile, a touch of a loving hand, a quiet moment on a hill
And, oh, what a happy little child bringing home a daffodil” (Unknown)

 

 

 

“A host of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” ~ William Wordsworth

 

“For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.” – William Wordsworth

 

“A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up,
whether or no the sun be shining outside.” ~ A.A. Milne

 

 

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February 8, 2020 · 3:46 pm

A Beautiful Day, Except…

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We are having a truly gorgeous day today – particularly for February. The sun is shining brightly and it’s 59 degrees outside!

Yesterday we not only saw the small herd of 6 deer beside the road on the way to town, but also saw a roadrunner when we got home.

Getty Images

This one above is not the one we saw, but the picture gives you an idea. He was up on our deck railing, eating the handful of seed we try to leave in the “bird” feeder we made from a shovel.

Shovel Bird Feeder

Shovel BirdFeeder and Friends on the Deck Railing

He seemed quite comfortable eating brunch as we watched. Two squirrels and a rabbit rounded out the wonderful display of nature.

Our doggies have LOVED the day, wearing us out with letting them out and back in again over and over. (They have to go out separately, since our lab, Amber, is jealous of our elderly cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross, Molly, and tries to hurt her.)  We are getting our exercise today playing “doggy doorman.”

Amber

 

Molly

I got the ingredients for keto chili in the crock pot early this morning – at my husband’s request – so we’ll enjoy having that ready to eat for dinner tonight. I also cut up a HUGE container of strawberries because my husband lives for his ‘cakes, ice cream, and strawberries’ each night.

This would be a perfect day except that it’s February, meaning I need to get our paperwork organized for our CPA to do our taxes. I have kept spreadsheets on the various deduction categories this year, and I have made myself enter the data each month, so I think it will be mostly a matter of checking things over, totaling everything, and printing the spreadsheets, then adding the appropriate backup for each thing.

Stock records to confirm as we wait for the company to send us the official records, filing, updating, and THEN opening the spreadsheets for the records for 2020 are also on the list.

If all this paperwork were done with a swish of my magic wand, I would be the happiest of women….

 

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February 7, 2020 · 2:47 pm

A Beautiful Sight

On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, we saw a group of SIX deer standing beside the road. Happily, they didn’t move as we drove past. I wish I could have gotten a pic of them, but someone was behind us on the road, so we couldn’t stop.  This picture I found on the net gives you an idea of what we were fortunate enough to see.

 

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February 4, 2020 · 10:58 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 2-4-2020

Listal

We’re having a cold, rainy day today, to be followed by a wintry mix tomorrow. We were spoiled by two days of absolutely gorgeous, sunny weather lately, so I guess this evens things out.

 

YouTube

Yesterday I finished taking my warm weather stuff out of my closet and putting it into our guest room closet. I had my cold weather stuff in a big tub that I stashed in my art room because we were trying to have a clear closet for the foreign student we hoped to host. My husband’s stroke changed our plans, the foreign student won the lottery on host families elsewhere – finding a perfect one for him. Yesterday I pulled the tub into our master bath where my closet is.

I was determined not to just pull things out and be done with it. I tried each thing on and then decided whether –

  • It was good and could be hung up
  • It was good, but needed to go into the dryer for a few minutes to get wrinkles out
  • It was now too large and should be donated (HOORAY!)
  • I really didn’t like the way it looked on me and should be donated
  • It was still too small and should be donated

I finally got to the bottom of the tub. I took the clothes that needed the dryer, along with hangers, downstairs and began running loads with a few things at a time. I took a pad of paper, pen, and large leaf bag back upstairs, listing what I was donating and filling the bag. I brought both downstairs. Then I brought the stuff that was now wrinkle-free and on hangers back upstairs and hung them in my closet. Today I will document the donation and the next time the weather is cooperative, we’ll drive to Ft. Smith to the Veterans Thrift Store.

Today’s project, thanks to Mother Nature giving us a cold, rainy day, is scrubbing my kitchen. Things have been cleaned out in both our walk-in pantry and the kitchen, and today I’ll do the deep cleaning it has been needing. So far, I have the top-of-the-stove parts in the dishwasher.

We went bowling with our good friends last night. We got to catch up on what each of us had been doing – with good conversation and laughs. My husband beat me the first game, but I beat HIM the second. We ALL enjoyed going to Braum’s after for ice cream. My husband wore the new tee he bought – giving both of our friends a good laugh.

I hope that you are having a good Tuesday. ENJOY!

 

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January 22, 2020 · 12:42 pm

Freezing

PxHere

First real taste of winter here overnight and this morning. I had to be really careful taking one of our dogs out this morning. The lip and steps of the front porch, plus the concrete pad down below were pretty icy. I had to be really careful not to fall on my head.  It’s 33 degrees F. now, and we’re to have a high of 37. The precipitation has changed from freezing rain/sleet to just really cold rain now, so hopefully the ice will melt. I’m a bit worried about the re-freeze tonight, but will wait and see.

 

Center of the American Experiment

Happily, we have all we need and don’t have to get out, except for taking dogs out.

I hope that YOUR weather is either good, or you can get somewhere warm and dry OUT of it.

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January 20, 2020 · 11:06 am

Enjoying the Fall for a Bit Longer

Floristic Planet

 

Color on the Metolius River-Extreme Oregon via Yolanda Vanveen

 

Slice of Life

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January 11, 2020 · 11:32 am

Thoughts on a Saturday 1-11-2020

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

The severe weather came through last night, dropping our temperature from 70 degrees F. to 34 this morning. the storms and lightning were pretty impressive. (My husband was teed off because our weather guy broke into the programs he wanted to watch.) The day today is gray, raw, wet, cold. We MAY get sleet today, but so far, we are doing fine, have sustained no damage that I have found, and are warm, safe, and dry.  I hope the storms don’t cause a lot of damage as they now move to the east.

 

My daffodils are stupid. They have sprouted and will try to bloom, even though the prospect of sleet is imminent today with winter coming on its heels.

 

I baked recipe #6 for keto bread yesterday. I brought two slices in for my husband and I to try. My husband took one bite and didn’t say anything. In a few minutes he let our dog, Amber enjoy the remainder of the slice. (Tact is not his long suit.)  Happily, I found a group yesterday on Facebook – Amazing Daily Keto moderated by Angie Thomason that is all things keto. I was accepted into the group and already have a new bread recipe to try!  Hooray!

I’m getting my chores accomplished – mainly due to the yucky weather outside – and

source unknown

am hoping to spend at least part of the afternoon in my art room. I have some ideas rattling around that are becoming insistent that they be allowed to come out. I LOVE spending time up there! :0)

I hope that YOUR day is safe and enjoyable.

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January 10, 2020 · 10:12 am

Thoughts on a Friday 1-10-2020

Soul Alchemy

I’m really sad about the loss of animal life in Australia. People are trying to save as many as possible, and I’m grateful for that. My heart goes out to the people who have lost so much.

We are getting ready to go to Lunch Bunch, our weekly lunch with long-time, treasured friends. It will be good to be out, especially because we are due for some severe weather later today – high wind, chance of tornadoes, strong wind, hail, heavy rain, and flying hair balls. It’s supposed to start at 2 and last throughout the night, changing to sleet tomorrow. I’m about to suggest dances and songs for Mother Nature – trying to get on her good side…

I had a nice online chat with our son in Thailand yesterday. I always feel so good after talking with him. The fact we can type back and forth whenever we would like makes me almost forget he’s half a world away. :0)

I’m trying a new keto bread recipe this afternoon. Fingers crossed!

Have a wonderful day, and stay safe.

 

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January 9, 2020 · 4:23 pm

Thoughts on a Thursday 1-9-2020

New Animalbook

We are getting rain. We had some last night, we’re having some today, severe weather possibly tomorrow, then maybe a wintry mix Saturday. I wish that Mother Nature could do this moisture over Australia…

Between storms, my husband and I drove to Ft. Smith this morning to leave our first donation of the year to the Veterans Thrift Town Store. I am really impressed with the people who run this place. The store is always clean, and the people who work there smiling and helpful. The people in the back who help us with our donation are always really nice. We now donate most everything we have there.  If you live in the area, their address is 3500 Jenny Lind Road, Suite B, Fort Smith, AR 72901.  Their phone number is (479) 783-7225. They are open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 6pm.

I am doing better with my keto eating plan efforts and my exercise.  I just took one of our favorites – an egg/sausage/cheese bake – by Suzanne Ryan – out of the oven for our dinner tonight. My husband actually requests this dinner. I serve it with a side veggie or a salad. Delicious. I’ve been doing lots of yoga lately to try to straighten out my back. It’s working. I’m almost back to normal now. A twinge, when I bend forward, like to pick something up off a table, but otherwise good. I’ll try to add my elliptical to the mix very soon.

I’m going to try another keto bread recipe probably tomorrow. The loaf I’m finishing is fine, but my husband doesn’t care for it. I would LIKE to find one that both of us enjoy. The search continues…. oh- I almost forgot to tell you! I’m on the hunt for Crepini Egg Thins with Cauliflower. Walmart usually carries them, but is out of stock at the moment. I’m planning to try using them as a wrap in place of sandwiches, since trying to eat things from rolled up lettuce isn’t really working for me.

It is dark outside, and it’s only 4:30! Looks like we’re in for another storm.

I hope you’re having a good day.

 

 

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December 30, 2019 · 10:35 am

Dazzling Beauty

Ar Ali Ibrahim – LinkedIn

 

Ar Ali Ibrahim – LinkedIn

 

Joanne Vischio Pasquale – LinkedIn

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November 16, 2019 · 10:40 am

Flowers Make my Heart Soar

Esma CETIN – LinkedIn

 

Twisted Copper Creations

 

Torres Del Paine Nat’l Park by Weimin Chu via Zeliko Divac – LinkedIn

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November 10, 2019 · 11:29 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 11-10-2019

Beautiful World via George Dumaine

We just got home from grocery shopping and putting everything away. I’m now relaxing at my computer with a cup of coffee. Ahhhh!

First, I wanted to thank those of you who wrote encouraging messages about the way “Blasing Bright” looks, the booth that my friend Carla and I are sharing now at Rags & Roses in Greenwood, Arkansas. I think we managed to put things where they show up well, people can get to them to look more closely, and you’ve told me that it looks inviting. So THANK YOU. The shop is closed now until Tuesday, but I feel GOOD that I have some of my stuff ‘out there’ for people to see and possibly buy. If you’re in the area, the address is 100 North Main St.  The hours Tuesday through Friday, are 11:00 – 6:00. Hours Saturday are 10:00 to 4:00. This is the first time I’ve enjoyed a local venue, and I’m hopeful that Carla and I can share this booth for a long time.

I am planning to spend much of the day out in the yard – or at least as long as my back holds out – cleaning out flower planters. We’ve had several freezes and things are looking pretty sad now. Today has been named, “The last good fall day” for awhile by the weather people, with a cold front coming tomorrow, along with rain, possible wintry mix, and MUCH colder temperatures, so today is the day to do all I can to have our yard look like someone cares.

On cleanup after the ‘gathering-and-processing-for-the-booth’ I need to work in our office and my art room. These are on the back burner, though, as far as priorities, due to the coming weather. I can work on both of THEM when the weather deteriorates.

With all the activity around here, I have ignored my exercising and my poor old body is complaining LOUDLY. I’m going to see how the yard work goes, and then at LEAST get in my yoga practice this afternoon.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

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November 5, 2019 · 3:13 pm

Thoughts on a Tuesday 11-5-2019

Cheap Trip via Martha Kirkendall-Ghearing

Things sometimes happen fast.

Yesterday we stopped at the post office before going to my husband’s dental appointment. As we started to leave, my husband backed the Corvette into the back of a parked truck. After surveying the two vehicles, the nice man in the truck couldn’t find any damage and waved us off. Our Vette, however, was a different story. The right rear is smashed – and it’s fiberglass. After the dental appointment (which went well, even with the blood thinners, thank goodness) we drove back, stopping at our insurance agent’s office. We agreed to take the ‘Vette to a local repair shop for an estimate. We did that today – $3400+ damage. :0(  Thankfully, our deductible is $500, which we can scrounge up. We will take it in again when the repair shop gets the backlog of  “deer hits” cleared out. They’ll call us.

On further research, I have learned that depth perception can be affected by a stroke. My husband and I have talked about it and he has agreed to take things a bit more slowly, particularly when backing up, and give his senses more time to react. He really doesn’t like it when “I” drive, so maybe he’ll take this seriously.

Yesterday the only exercise I got was bowling last night with our good friends. We really enjoy catching up with them, getting some good exercise (whether or not we bowl well) and having ice cream – a real treat – afterwards.  I was creaky this morning, so I am doubly serious about getting my exercises in. I have finished my 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer and will soon go and do my equal session of yoga stretches.

Today is a truly gorgeous day – sunny and 70 degrees F. It just doesn’t get better than this. I’m hoping we get just a FEW more days like this…

I’m having fun in my art room. I have almost finished the 2nd group of 8 flat wooden Christmas ornaments painted with Unicorn Spit. I have the first 8 listed on ArtFire, offering to add a name and the year at no extra charge, and free shipping. As soon as I finish getting the rest listed, I’ll give you the URL of the page in case you’re interested.

A good friend of mine told me about a new app that offers reward points for your shopping. It’s called FETCH REWARDS. You shop, scan your receipts using the app and your phone, and then you can get gift cards and other stuff when you accumulate enough points. I think it’s a fun idea. If you’re interested, please Google it and see if it appeals to you.

Have a great rest of the day!

 

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October 14, 2019 · 12:10 pm

Thoughts on a Monday – 10-14-2019

We Love Earth

 

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” –  Other than the history of our country, this ‘holiday’ means to US that we have no mail and the banks are not open today. I’m sad that has become yet another controversial subject.

I’m feeling spoiled that Mother Nature is smiling on us again today, giving us another beautiful, cool, sunshine-y day. I just took advantage of it a bit, pruning the roses I started to do several days ago and doing some general clean up of a flower bed or two.

I’ll do my elliptical trainer and my yoga practice today. Did I tell you that I’m FINALLY feeling a difference in my energy level and the way I MOVE since I’ve been doing both of these daily? Another week or two, and I’ll consider adding something else to the mix.

I’ll watch more YouTube demos on Unicorn Spit and then I’m PLANNING to get up to my art room this afternoon to start experimenting!

 

I hope Mother Nature is smiling on YOU, too, and that you have a wonderful day.

 

 

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October 3, 2019 · 10:26 am

Thoughts on a Thursday – 10-3-2019

Jeff Jett

Seeing this cute photo of a raccoon reminds me how HAPPY I am that we finally seem to have encouraged all the raccoons to go elsewhere. At least for a while.

We love seeing animals around our place. We see deer, possums, racoons, squirrels, road runners, birds of all kinds….   We have lots of feeders on our deck because we love watching all kinds of birds flit around while we sit at our dining area table. This comes to a halt suddenly, several times in the spring, summer, and fall, when we find ALL the feeders empty, hanging at half mast, or down on the deck, ruined. Our raccoons seem to arrive in families. We use a humane trap to catch them, one at a time, and then drive them out further into the country about 5 miles or so, and let them out at a creek to hopefully catch up to the ones we’ve relocated before and go on to live a happy life – away from us.

If they would SHARE or wouldn’t trash our feeders and make a mess, we could live in harmony. SADLY, they want it ALL.

Right now we still have hummingbird feeders up and filled since we are still seeing up to 4 at a time, darting between the two feeders and our wave petunias. We’ll keep them up to feed late stragglers who haven’t gotten the memo yet that it’s probably time to head south. (Mother Nature is still giving us summer here, so it’s no wonder the sweet hummers are confused.)

We also have black oil sunflower seeds and small seeds so everyone can find something to their liking. We had kept the feeders empty, trying to discourage the raccoons, for a LONG time, so it’s good to be back to normal now.

I just finished the first of 2 sessions on my elliptical trainer in the garage. I overdid a couple of days ago, and ended up like a slug in my chair most of the day yesterday. Dividing up my time into two sessions will hopefully allow me to keep moving without my body going on strike. I do another session later today plus a session of yoga.

My creative juices are starting to rummage around in my brain, so I’m hoping to get up to my art room this afternoon and start plotting, planning, and playing. (I hope you get a kick out of alliteration :0) )

*Today is Day 31 of daily yoga. Day 16 of getting-serious-about-keto-macros, and Day 5 of three-times-a-week elliptical trainer time. I’m going to give myself a gold star EACH time I do an elliptical session, hopefully making it so I don’t slough off the second session of the day, so I can earn THREE today. I cooked “Cheesy Bacon-Wrapped Chicken” by Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto last night. Both my husband and son said, “YUMMY!”

The weather people are saying a cold front is coming through over night. I’m holding them to their word that this will happen, and will finally break the back of the too-hot temps with too-high humidity that have become the norm here. Fall – here we come!

I hope YOU have a star-filled and raccoon-less day, too!

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September 30, 2019 · 9:30 am

Thoughts on a Monday – 9-30-2019

Wild About Nature

September came and went so fast my hair is blowing!

I’m excited about Thursday of this week, when fall is finally coming to Greenwood, Arkansas. We’ll have some rain and the highs for the rest of the week as far as I can see will be in the 70’s. AHHHHH! I’m more than ready.

Our son, who came home to help us through the aftermath of my husband’s stroke, will be leaving Oct. 19th. We are SO lucky to have such a generous, caring son. It’s time for him to get back to his life in Thailand now.

We will do errands, change the decoration on the mailbox, and then settle in to enjoy the day. Yoga and art room are planned. And that’s it from the exciting life of the Lewises! It’s so wonderful NOT to have drama. :0)

Enjoy the last day of September.

 

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