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Monthly Archives: December 2021
The World of Paper Mache’
Filed under paper art, paper mache
My Wishes for You in 2022
“My Wish for you in 2022:
May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts.
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires.
May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words …….
May 2022 be the best year of your life!!!”
~ Unknown
____________________
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.” ~ Neil Gaiman, British author
Happy 2022 from the Lewises – via Calvin & Hobbes – Bill Watterson
Filed under holidays, Lewis Mailbox Decorations
Skeleton Art
I have discovered there are a bunch of really creative people who want to celebrate Halloween-type skeleton art all year around, and I couldn’t be more delighted. It’s amazing how peoples’ minds work, coming up with wonderful idea on top of the last, making me grin like a Cheshire cat –
Filed under Skeleton Art
Who’s A Good Boy?
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography, CUTE!
Giants from Wood 2
Preparation
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Thoughts on a Thursday 12-30-2021
It looks much like this beautiful photo outside our house this morning. We did our errands in the rain yesterday and cooler air is coming in today, changing us from summer to fall to winter in a matter of days. We may actually see some snow Saturday and Sunday.
My sweet friend Kay might finally be getting some help since her fall recently. She has a broken bone in her back and she may be covered for a procedure to fix it, finally getting some relief for her pain. This has been a frustrating situation, but hopefully is finally being resolved. We have all been doing what we can to help, but pain coupled with healthcare providers dropping the ball have thwarted our efforts at every turn. Fingers crossed.
You may be shocked to learn that I did NOT win the lottery last night. I only buy a ticket when the pot is over $400 million, and always enjoy at least an afternoon of hope, imagining all the nice things I would like to do if I ever DO win…. They announced the winning numbers, but didn’t say if they had sold the winning ticket to anyone.
This is a VERY nice day to ignore the ‘shoulds’ on my list and simply enjoy. I hope YOU are enjoying this kind of day, too.
Filed under Friendship, Mother Nature, opportunities, Thoughts on a ________
Giants from Wood
I found these via Pinterest. I think the artist is Thomas Dambo, a Danish artist.
Hope Springs
The last stop on the errand list was buying $10 worth of hope in the shape of a lottery ticket. The ‘pot’ is now up to over $440 million – a nice, tidy sum. Though my husband and I don’t agree on how we would spend the money (remember, we don’t even use the same salt), the ticket is in MY name, so he’ll need to listen carefully if he wants a part of my winnings.
High on my list is our son and his financial security, and that of a dear friend who can’t afford to retire. She will – if she wants to – if I have a say.
It’s nice to hope the rest of the day.
Filed under hope
Glorious Metal Art
Filed under metal art
Snowy Thoughts
I have to admit that winter is not my favorite season. That said, there are many things I LOVE about it –
I’ve always loved sweaters and layers and boots, shawls, mufflers, crocheted hats with snowballs on top, gloves, snuggling under throws, sitting by the fireplace.
Snow people and critters have a special place in my heart. I’ve rarely been in enough snow to actually make them, but really enjoy the creativity shown by people, and wonderful photos like the one with the fox and the snowman above. That one made me laugh out loud when I found it. :0)
When my husband and I started dating a hundred years or so ago (he was 17 and I was 14), we had a rare, really good snow in Arkansas. We celebrated by building two snow people in the front yard of my parents’ home. I built a traditional snowman. My husband built an extremely well-endowed female snow person. They met with a sad ‘accident’ pretty quickly – I think due to my mom instructing my dad to ‘modify’ them before she got complaints from the neighbors…
My parents had a gorgeous, open design fireplace. Somehow, it was designed to be open at one corner of the bricks so you could see it ‘around the corner’ – in the foyer and also in the living room. I’m still amazed at the design. My parents had a gas insert because they wanted to be able to turn the fire on and off when they wanted and didn’t have to store or haul firewood. I have many memories of sitting in a sling chair beside it, or sitting on the hearth in front of it, warming my back.
We have a fireplace insert in our home now. You can’t see the fire well unless you keep the doors open on the insert. It’s made for efficiency and a heat source in case our regular heat isn’t working. We have firewood stored and always have a fire laid, ready for the strike of a match to start it. When we don’t have anywhere we need to be and the weather is really cold, we light it for the COMFORT and good feelings it brings, rather than the need. A definite, wonderful luxury.
Comfort food is wonderful. My mom made big cast iron skillets of spaghetti sauce and garlic bread, and a lovely bean soup. I like to get a beef stew going in the crock pot, serving that with a crust of bread. I also love grilled cheese sandwich and soup dinners.
My favorite snow is one with huge, beautiful flakes like in a snow globe. It coats the ground in pristine, glorious white, looking beautiful. If there are children around, enough for a snowball fight, snow angels, or maybe a snowman. Then, the sun comes out right away, the temperature warms, and the snow is melted on our driveway and the roads, leaving it on the ground otherwise. Fantasies are made to be enjoyed. :0)
Roller Coaster?
We’ve been having record warm weather lately, with lots of sunshine and summery temperatures. It was 78 degrees F. A few days ago.
Now we’re enjoying fall-like weather, with sunshine and rain, cooler temperatures, lots of gusty winds, and leaves everywhere.
The forecast is for continued rain followed by cooler temperatures and a distinct chance of SNOW Sunday!
Leave it to Arkansas to provide three seasons in one week. I have my seat belt fastened and will try to enjoy the ride.
Filed under Mother Nature, Seasons
I Love Cats
“Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.” ~ Missy Dizick
“‘All right’, said the Cat, and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.” – Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
“As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.” ~ Ellen Perry Berkeley
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
Sudden Thought
“The older I get, the more I see there are these crevices in life where things fall in and you just can’t reach them to pull them back out. So you can sit next to them and weep or you can get up and move forward. You have to stop worrying about who’s not here and start worrying about who is.”
— Alex Witchel
Filed under aging, Challenges, Changes, Favorite Quotes
Sweet Acorn Art
Acorn Art – Petr Vaclavek – Dubanci.cz
Isn’t it amazing that a person can be so talented as to make you FEEL looking at his acorn people?
Filed under acorn art, Petr Vaclavek - Dubanci.cz
Thoughts on a Monday 12-27-2021
My newest paperback in the J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts “In Death” series is on its way to me today! I’m re-reading the previous books so I’ll have them all fresh in my mind before I dive into the newest one, “Forgotten in Death.”
Each of these books stands alone, and I’m really impressed by how little repetition there is from one book to another. I enjoy revisiting the crimes, but my favorite part of this series is the building up of friendships, the sharing of their lives and their interaction with each other. And especially the wonderful relationship of the main character, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her love, Roarke.
My husband and I will change our mailbox decoration today to our celebration of another Happy New Year.
I’m finding it hard to believe that December is almost gone. AND 2021. May 2022 be a wonderful year for all of us.
Our weather is still absolutely amazing for December here in Arkansas. I noticed that we had the first day of winter on the 21st. Sometimes we have already had some snow by now. Our grass is green again. My husband refuses to mow in December and I can’t blame him. I’m still trying to get my body moving to get our planters in reasonable shape before we have a cold weather snap and it’s too cold to get out there. I’m TRYING to get one planter done each day, but so far, my INTENTIONS are speaking much louder than my actions.
I visited my friend Kay again yesterday. She is still in pain from her recent fall. She did find a rib support that seems to be helping her. I hate seeing her hurting. We all feel helpless to do anything but show we care.
Enjoy the last week in December!
My Kinda World
Filed under animal friendships, Awe-Inspiring Photography
“It’s not an easy thing to inflate a dog.”
The quote above is from Edward Abbey
“Some dogs live for praise. They look at you as if to say “Don’t throw balls… just throw bouquets.”
Jhordis Anderson
“A watchdog is a dog kept to guard your home, usually by sleeping where a burglar would awaken the household by falling over him.” – Unknown
“Never judge a dog’s pedigree by the kind of books he does not chew.” – Unknown
“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.” Dave Barry
You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, “My God, you’re right! I never would’ve thought of that!” Dave Barry
“A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some people can be persuaded to go for a walk.” O.A. Battista
Filed under Amazing Animals, sculpture
The Wonderful Matt Dixon
Filed under Matt Dixon - Robot Art
Today’s Christmas Gift
We just finished a conference call chat with our son.
These pics were taken in 2018, the last time our son was home from Thailand. Travel is simply too expensive and dangerous, and even worse on the 24 hours travel time he had to go through last time to even think about his coming home until the world tames down.
Chatting with him on a conference call, where we can SEE him and watch him smile is the next best thing – a true gift. He stayed up late in order to talk with us and I’m still smiling. THE most wonderful Christmas gift for us. He is safe, healthy and happy. I told him that while I’m not biased in any way, being his mother, I am truly proud of the man he is. I don’t know where he got all the kindness that simply oozes out of him. I feel lucky that we value each other as people.
I hope that you, too, had a love-filled, happy Christmas.
Memories at Christmas
I’ve always dreamed of white Christmases. I was born in Chicago, but we moved almost immediately to Brooklyn, and then to Long Island. We moved to Oklahoma before I was 5, and I’ve lived in Arkansas for over 30 years now. I don’t remember much about my very early life in the Northeast, and it was almost unheard of to have a white Christmas in “tornado alley.” That didn’t diminish my love of everything Christmas.
I remember a Christmas when my brother and I both received 3-speed English bicycles. Neither of us even dreamed of such a present. My parents were amazing to keep the secret. This was a gift that kept on giving for many, many years of bicycling around our neighborhood.
The first time I ever MADE a Christmas present for anyone I was about 11 or 12. My mom was VERY good at making clothes and knitting. She altered all of my dad’s shirts, sweaters and sports coats because he had damaged his left arm falling off a horse when he was three. Back then, they didn’t know as much as they do now, and they were only able to save his arm and hand, leaving it shorter than his right and his hand was almost completely useless. I didn’t realize as a child
- that my dad was considered ‘disabled’ my many who didn’t know him well,
- how special my mother was to alter all his shirts, and knit cardigan sweaters for him. I think she could have knitted a bus, she was so talented.
- how much patience it would take to try to teach her daughter to sew and knit.
I knitted a scarf/muffler for my grandmother that Christmas. It was really terrible, with lots of missed stitches and places where I got too tense and jammed all the stitches together. Other places, the stitches were really large, warping the whole thing out of shape. My grandmother’s favorite color was red, and so I knit her a red muffler to keep her warm when she walked the ugliest dog in the world, a pug named, “Unkie.” That Christmas we had traveled to Nevada, Missouri, to spend the holiday with her and my grandfather. He was bedridden with Multiple Sclerosis. I don’t remember him ever standing, but I have pictures of the two of them, looking amazing, all dressed up in the latest style of the day. (Sorry for a bit of rambling – the memories are swamping me.) My grandmother unwrapped the muffler. She sat, holding it in her hands. Then she cried. I’m tearing up as I type this. She GOT the love I sent with the muffler. She GOT it.
Sometimes I find things, particularly online, during the year that I think people I care about might really enjoy and I send them. Sometimes I wait for Christmas. Sometimes I can’t. Most Christmases I still try to make things for people. I hope they GET the love that is sent with them.
Filed under Family, Friendship, holidays, memories
Fabulous Fuzzy Faces
Filed under Amazing Animals, drawings
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