Peter Vanbekbergen – MorrenGalleries.nl
I want to hug these doggies.
Monthly Archives: February 2022
Pretty Painted Glassware
Filed under Gorgeous Glass
It’s Monday
Under ‘character-building exercises,’ I have been dealing with our main credit card being frauded, then cancelled by the credit card company, then receiving the new card (my husband slogged CAREFULLY down our steep driveway Saturday to retrieve them from the mailbox, since the UPS guy couldn’t get up our icy driveway, and we then began notifying the people and places who need to know the new information. My husband quickly got frustrated and angry, so I told him I would do it. UGH. I’m finally down to 2 places and hopefully I can get through to them today.
We are getting a lot of melting where the sun can reach the ground easily now. Our driveway will, as usual, be the last thing to thaw, being long, steep, bordered by trees, and on the north side of our property. I heard our driveway alarm and found our truck gone from the garage. I swept out that side of the garage and my husband came back up with the mail, plus Amber happily riding in the bed of the truck. We’ll be able to take our trash down tomorrow morning, retrieve our mail, and run some errands!
I’m more than happy to start a new month tomorrow, particularly one that includes the beginning of SPRING! :0)
I hope you’re having a wonderful day.
Filed under Challenges, character-building exercises, Seasons, Thoughts on a ________, weather
Art From Found Things Creativity
Filed under Art From Found Things
More Drool-Worthy Gourds
Filed under Gorgeous Gourd Art, Gorgeous Gourds
Have to Share 2 – Punny
6. Just so everyone is clear, I’m going to put my glasses on.
7. A commander walks into a bar and orders everyone around.
8. I lost my job as a stage designer. I left without making a scene.
9. Never buy flowers from a monk. Only you can prevent florist friars.
10. How much did the pirate pay to get his ears pierced? A buccaneer.
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, punny, Word Play
Sunshine!
My husband laboriously negotiated our ski slope of a driveway to get several days worth of mail yesterday, then again when he received an email that UPS had left a package for us at the bottom of our driveway. Since our driveway is STEEP and 650+ feet, it was quite a bit of exercise. We have sunshine today, and our afternoon temperatures are supposed to be above freezing (33 degrees F. now), so we may finally start getting some melting. I figure it’ll be another day or two before we have our freedom to come and go as desired again.
I’m ready to put winter and February behind me. My heart is in the garden, playing in the dirt, envisioning colorful flowers and veggies. Maybe in another 2 or 3 weeks, I can think about finding some early spring plants to get going.
Otherwise, one of my dear friends made me feel really special yesterday, and I’m still glowing from it today. She creates drool-worthy jewelry, mainly from silver. She branches out from time to time into copper, one of MY favorite metals. Yesterday, in the mail my husband retrieved, there was a package from her with SEVERAL pieces of copper jewelry – earrings, a bracelet, and two necklaces! A feast for the eyes, I keep changing which is my favorite. I can’t wait to show them off to my Lunch Bunch friends. :0)
I hope you are safe and well today.
Filed under Friendship, Seasons, Thoughts on a ________, weather
Just HAVE to Share
My good friend sent these puns to me. I just HAVE to share them with you so I’m not groaning all by myself. :0)
1. Dad, are we pyromaniacs? Yes, we arson.
2. What do you call a pig with laryngitis? Disgruntled.
3. Writing my name in cursive is my signature move.
4. Why do bees stay in their hives during winter? Swarm.
5. If you’re bad at haggling, you’ll end up paying the price.
(More soon. NONE of us is getting out alive…)
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, punny, Word Play
Eye of the Beholder
This guy is so ugly he melts my heart. I want to hug him. I love his smile.
Filed under sculpture
Life Force
I’m reading “Life Force” by Tony Robbins. It’s a compilation of information by 100+ physicians speaking about ‘precision medicine that can transform your life.’
It’s interesting. I’m not sure that I particularly want to live that much LONGER, but I AM interested in improving the quality of my life as much as possible.
You might be interested in checking it out, as well.
Cold Shoulder
No one is negotiating our driveway until Mother Nature quits giving us a cold shoulder. We’re still iced in, though our temperatures are supposed to get above freezing today, and things are supposed to start melting. I’ll believe it when I see it. We have mail waiting, plus deliveries scheduled – but all will have to wait until further notice. It’s 28 and a world of white ice right now.
We had a comfort food dinner of chicken chunks, mushrooms and onions in cream of mushroom/chicken soup over rice last night. I got TWO compliments on it while we were eating and help cleaning up the kitchen afterward, so it was a definite success. :0)
I was really happy to hear our generator come on last Thursday, doing its automatic weekly testing, in the middle of our being stuck up here on top of our hill. Thankfully, we haven’t needed it, but I can’t tell you how grateful I am to know it’s there if needed.
Filed under .gifs I Love, weather
Droolworthy Gourds
Filed under Gorgeous Gourd Art, Gorgeous Gourds
More Art From Found Things
Filed under Art From Found Things
Delicious Driftwood Sculpture
Filed under Driftwood Art, When Wood Comes Alive
Togetherness
hahahahahahahahahaha. I love this. :0)
As you probably agree, being stuck at home during the pandemic followed by being snowed in, and then iced in within a three week period can be challenging. My wonderful SIL and I discuss the idea of a “deep hole in the back yard” (I won’t tell you in WHOSE back yard) beckons when faced with too many challenges of living with our spouses.
My mantra is ‘one day at a time,’ and I’m trying to consciously be as nice as I can while engineering ways to get some space and time to myself each day. I figure if we each do that, we probably come out in the middle – and the hole in the back yard won’t be utilized…
Filed under Challenges
Too Much Comfort!
Being iced in and eating comfort food is making my scales smirk at me again. Can you say, ‘Yo-yo?”
It’s 23 now, but it’s supposed to get to 40 this afternoon, with a slow warming trend in the coming days. Our driveway looks like a ski slope, and when we’re stupid enough to try to walk on it, where we walked doesn’t show, as the ice is still much too solid to allow footprints. It’ll be at LEAST another day or two before we venture out – at least I HOPE my husband doesn’t decide to be all macho about it.
When I looked out this morning, my eyes actually hurt, looking at the bright sunshine bouncing off the ice-covered EVERYTHING. It seems as if you can see every branch on every tree. Very pretty, but WAY too cold for me.
My husband requested that I make chicken chunks, onion, mushrooms, and soup over rice for our dinner this evening. I can FEEL the scales smirk. At this rate, a crane will be needed to pull me up out of my chair…
I HAVE been doing my yoga, though, so I’m starting to loosen up, and THAT feels wonderful. I’m doing a session each afternoon.
Since we’re still iced in, no Lunch Bunch today. I called each of my friends, and we visited a bit. Hopefully, NEXT Friday will be a time we can get together again.
Have a wonderful Friday.
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Thoughts on a ________, weather
It’s Okay
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay
If you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright
It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay
If you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright”
Rest In Peace.
Filed under Encouragement
Louise Freeman Ceramics
Louise Freeman Ceramics – quirkyceramics.com
Filed under ceramics, Clay Art, Louise Freeman Ceramics
Thoughts on a Thursday 2-24-2022
It LOOKS like it snowed outside, but it’s SLEET. We’re lucky about that, since according to what I’ve read, sleet doesn’t accumulate on power lines. Today the forecast is for sleet, freezing rain, and rain. I really didn’t know the difference between ‘sleet’ and ‘freezing rain’, so I looked it up. ‘Freezing rain’ falls as rain and pretty much freezes on contact. ‘Sleet’ falls as already-frozen pellets of differing sizes. I guess the difference between ‘sleet’ and ‘hail’ is the size of the pellets. Not sure what the dividing line is between the two – WHEN ‘sleet’ becomes ‘hail.’ At any rate, it’s all white, all cold, and is a problem when it’s on the ground.
When my husband took Amber out last night, he remarked that he didn’t leave any footprints in the white stuff. It was solid and really slippery. UGH. It’s supposed to start warming up tomorrow.
We’re lucky we have a warm, dry house, power, food, and water.
Since I am powerless to do anything about most of what’s happening in the world, I am again basically hiding from it and trying to not drown in despair. I hate that there are power hungry tyrants in the world making innocent people suffer. I hate that so many decisions are based on people trying to get and maintain power and control others. If I had a magic wand, I would sure be waving it right now.
I’ve been happily finding more evidence of more of the talent and creativity in the world. It’s truly wonderful to be able to type in a few words and be taken to more places than I have time to research, finding jaw-dropping things that people have created that I’ve never seen before. I’ve decided that almost ANYTHING can be made into art. Just put something out there. One person with vision will see it differently – will see the potential of it – and will create something breathtaking.
Yesterday I found some wonderful things I’ll be sharing with you during the coming days. I hope you’re able to stay safe, warm, dry, and smiling today.
Filed under Challenges, Thoughts on a ________, weather
Bits and Pieces
Art is all around us. Sometimes I find the work of an artist who is new to me and I share it with you. More often I find things on Pinterest that I love one at a time. I wanted to share a few that I’ve found lately –
Filed under Favorite Things
It’s Still Winter
Although winter is not my favorite season, there are things I love about it –
Snow people and critters are one of my favorite things. Again, the creativity shown by people amazes me.
- I love snowball fights (though not HARD snowballs in my face),
- making snow angels,
- walking around while it’s snowing trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue,
- appreciating fresh snow blanketing everything,
- the QUIET after a snow,
- riding on a sled
- I also love making hot chocolate and other comfort foods to enjoy when people come in from the cold.
All the acorn images are by Petr Vaclavek – Dubanci,cz
Filed under acorn art, Petr Vaclavek - Dubanci.cz, Seasons
Ice!
We awoke to sleet. When my husband went out to fill up our birdfeeders, he said we were having ‘ice balls.’ It’s 18 degrees. You can HEAR the sleet on the windows. I stood on the porch to get the feel of things and decided we’re very lucky to have a warm, dry house. (I just looked out the office window from my office chair. There is a bird feeder in the window, and I could SEE the balls of sleet bouncing off the feeder.) This is supposed to continue until TOMORROW evening, so things could get bad. We still have power, and our generator test worked LAST Thursday, so hopefully we have back up. I THINK I might have mentioned that winter is NOT my favorite season and that I’m MORE than ready for spring…
I’ve been enjoying listening to lots of music lately. I’m a sucker for The Voice, American Idol, and The X Factor, or ________’s Got Talent. I watch the clips on my computer. It’s heartwarming to see how much talent there is in the world, how many truly unique voices and styles they have. I wish all of them could go on to great success doing what they love. I’m also newly in love with Merrick Hanna, whose dance audition several years ago brought me to tears.
Since we’re stuck in the house, I’m trying to bounce between listening to music, reading, cleaning something, exercising, and back again over and over throughout the day.
I hope that the weather where you are isn’t bad. If it IS, I hope you can stay where you are safe, warm, and dry.
Filed under Thoughts on a ________, weather
Wire Sculpture by Rupert Till
Filed under Wire Art
Terrific Topiary
Nice View
Our son is now a property owner all the way across the world from us. This is a view from the condo he bought. Property ownership will make him more secure – always a good thing.
We are happy for him. He is living where he wants to live, although the next dream is a second home ‘in the country’ there. He is as safe and secure as there is in the world today. He is able to live the way he wants. It just doesn’t get better. WE would be happier if he had someone to share his life with. My husband pressures him for ‘rug rats.’
Happily, he seems to be accepting our words about how proud we are of the man he is. I honestly have never personally known anyone who is kinder or more generous than he.
May he be ‘happy as clam’ (where did this expression come from? Are clams really happy?) in his new place.
Mister Finch 2
Filed under Embroidery/Sewing Art
Thoughts on a Wet Tuesday
The rains started last night with a lot of thunder and lightning. They continue today. I’m not griping TOO loudly, though, as this is much better than what we’ll have starting tomorrow – ICE. Ugh.
We’ll leave in about half an hour to run errands, keeping appointments and picking up supplies for the coming winter storm.
I’m very happy we have a warm, dry home to ‘weather’ the storm in. I have to admit I’m more than ready for spring to arrive, though. Yesterday we saw veggie plants for sale at the local hardware store. Just too soon to plant, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want to have to cover the plants every night from now to mid March – though I really felt drawn to the plants…
Stay warm and safe.
Filed under Mother Nature, Seasons, Thoughts on a ________, weather
AND Flying Hairballs!
Mother Nature is trying to give us a lesson in humility, and not taking her for granted in the next few days.
This morning, while the weather was nice, we went to Ft. Smith to leave our tax stuff with our wonderful CPA. While we were there, we were able to swing by and see my good friend Nora, who is office manager at an insurance agency. I hugged her neck quickly, then again, because we don’t get to see each other often.
Tonight Mother Nature is serving us some possibly severe weather. Tonight-into-tomorrow, heavy rain and thunderstorms, some possibly dangerous. Heavy rain tomorrow, and then ice and snow Wednesday and Thursday. Great week, huh!
We will do errands tomorrow and pick up supplies in case we’re stranded up on our hill again. I rescheduled my massage that would have been Thursday, so that won’t be a worry anymore.
Yesterday I gathered a few more blooming daffodils for us to enjoy inside. They were lying on the ground, but still pretty. My favorite is the one that dares to be different in the center of the pic. I wish I could bring them ALL in. Hopefully, there will be more after the freeze, ice, and snow of Wednesday and Thursday.
Stay safe and warm!
Filed under Mother Nature, weather
The Incomparable Calvin Nicholls
Calvin Nicholls – 3-D Paper Sculpture – DailyMail.com
Filed under Calvin Nichols, paper art
creativeartworksblog 