Sunday Thoughts 5-28-2023

“Silies” – sent to me by my friend, Marsha.

Okay. I admit it. I started to type ‘Saturday’ in the title to this post. I also have trouble typing the year. I keep starting to type ‘2030’ and having to go back and change it. It’s easy to type, very symmetrical from the keyboard. Do you supposed I’m trying to wish away time – or just having aging problems? :0)

When the Sleep Number beds were a new thing in 2006, we really wanted one, but didn’t want to pay the steep price. We ended up buying a competitor – a king sized Celenia, Comfortaire. It’s a really sturdy air-filled mattress with dual controls so we can each have the firmness we want, changing it at any time. We love it.

This bed is now 17 years old! It’s not surprising that it is now showing signs of aging. We are having to hit the controls nightly now to bring the firmness up to what we have chosen for each side of the bed. My husband thinks we may need to buy a new pump or something. I just looked it up online and OF COURSE, it’s ‘discontinued.’ I’ve gotten out the paperwork and we’ll study the options we have.

Yesterday afternoon we decided to start our project of lopping off branches that are hanging down on both sides of our driveway, creating ‘branch tunnels’. I had already put our loppers in the truck. I added some gloves for me and my phone and sunglasses and we were ready. (I suggested that my husband wear tennis shoes instead of sandals, but he wasn’t interested. )

I pulled down each branch and my husband cut it off as close to the tree as he could reach. I then hauled the branch to the low side of the driveway and threw it into the woods as far as I could. We did this for about 15 minutes before pooping out. Happily, in that amount of time we each got good exercise and made a dent in the project to clear the driveway. We’ll try to do more again today, even though we don’t have errands to do or mail to get. (My husband put on tennis shoes this morning. Imagine that! :0) )

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.

A Hug to Start a Sunday

I Can Has Cheezburger

Today is chilly, though beautiful, and we have rain chances Tuesday-Thursday this week. I’ll take it.

hayneedle.com

Yesterday I got three of the four planted veggie garden boxes weeded. I’m planning to finish today. It looks like I might be able to actually do my first spring harvest today!!!!

My husband’s back is a bit better. He got up before I did this morning and did some light, start-the-morning chores. He’s resting in his chair, reading now, and looks perkier today.

I told you awhile back that I’m enjoying ‘music-reaction’ videos on YouTube lately. People have started channels where they take suggestions on what they should listen and react to. The video shows both them and what they’re reacting to.

I have subscribed to ‘Sebs Duran’ where Sebs and his wife Ali are exploring country music together. He came from only listening to heavy metal type music and she has more eclectic tastes, though neither had much experience with the whole country genre. As they react to videos suggested by their subscribers, “I” am hearing several that are new to me, as well. I’m becoming much more of a country fan than I used to be. I’m amazed at the lyrics, the real expertise on the instruments, and the quality of voices I’m hearing. A delightful way to spend some time.

My favorite ‘reactor’ is The World Upside Right I don’t know his name, but I have subscribed and made sure that when he reacts to something, I’m notified so I don’t miss it. He has a really expressive face that lights up the room with joy. He also isn’t afraid to show that something really gets to him. His reactions are honest, real and raw. He takes the time to research, really wanting to know who he is listening to. Right now he and I (and probably several other people) are rooting for Iam Tongi to win the American Idol competition. :0) If you’re interested in this type of thing, you should check out his channel.

Enjoy your day!

Sunny, Bright Sunday 1-15-2023

I found this and walked with them yesterday. I was reminded how much I need this by my hips talking to me a couple of times, but I think this will do me a lot of good. It’s short, gets me moving, and I like this mother and daughter.

I also did a careful, abbreviated version of my yoga practice yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have no clue why my right upper arm is hurting, but I’ve decided to try to work through it very carefully and see how it goes. ONE DAY AT A TIME.

I’m also being more successful in NOT eating in-between meals. This week has been a good start. If I think I’m hungry, I’m trying to drink some water and see how I feel later. If I’m STILL hungry, I have some dried fruit to eat. 2-1/2 pounds down for the week.

Our weather is nice today, so I’m planning to at least walk around outside this afternoon. It’s hard to believe it’s January. The high will be around 62!

I’m thinking about at least spending some time in my art room today. I have ideas rattling around in my brain during the day, and am dreaming about them at night, so it’s time. :0)

I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday, too.

Cuddle Weather

The Random Vibez

Cold, gray rainy Sunday here – 39 with a high of 42. Ugh. We’ll have ‘breakfast’ for dinner tonight and spaghetti tomorrow.

Suave Yards

Yesterday I did Pass #2 on blowing leaves from the front yard. I got almost finished and the leaf blower started making bad noises. I looked, but didn’t see anything caught anywhere, anything loose, etc. My husband came out and looked at it, saying it sounded like “bearings were giving up” and that we would probably need to buy another one. This one has lasted a long time. We’ll probably take a look tomorrow and see what we can find.

Yesterday was DAY 142 on my daily yoga practice. I have changed to multiple short plank poses, rather than trying to hold one longer pose. I did six 10-second holds yesterday. I can increase either the time, the repetitions, or both, trying to get the most benefit from the pose on trying to get stronger. My husband and I share the same exchange each day – When he says, “Are you going to ‘yoge’?, and I answer, “Yes,” – he says, “Good on ya.” (Still not a ‘habit,’ or something I feel I NEED to do, or an activity I would MISS if I didn’t do it, but it has definitely become a ‘determined effort’ each day.)

Scottsdale Pet Hotel

Other than cuddling, playing on the computer, listening to music on YouTube, reading, cooking, etc., my plan is to vacuum the first floor tiles and carpet. My husband did this in our truck the other day, replacing the seat cover with a new one, and says he vacuumed up the equivalent of two dogs. :0) I’ll probably do the same today. If there were an award for shedding, I think Amber would definitely be in the running.

Stay warm, safe, and dry today with someone you love.

Hoping for Calm

horseandman.com

“Slow and Creaky” describes me today after the lifting/dragging/throwing required to help get the tree out of the driveway yesterday afternoon. Even my yoga (but I did that BEFORE we we left to go to Walmart) didn’t help. (Today is DAY 100 of my daily practice) I’ll try to do a longer, slower practice today with lots and lots of good stretching.

My husband is aggravated that one of the two monitors he has on his computer has gone dark. He had taken things apart this week and thought he had the problem fixed, but now he thinks the cable has gone bad. He had checked on the net and a replacement wouldn’t get here until the 28th – hence the trip to Walmart yesterday. He’s beyond frustrated now, since Walmart didn’t have the cable, but has now ordered the cable he needs, and hasn’t blown up yet.

I was planning to use today to continue working in the ‘new’ iris planter, but I need to give my back a day or so to rest before doing much bending over type work in the planter. I think I told you that I brought in the sweet red onions we grew. They are still in a large plastic bag in the garage. Maybe I can get them stored in the fridge bins and mesh bags today.

I hope that we ALL have a calm happy Sunday.

Happy Wet Sunday

topinspired.com

I’m a happy camper this morning. The doors are open. The ceiling fan is on, spreading fresh, cooler air all through the house. It’s only supposed to get to 89 today, with a chance of some good rain. Yea!!!!

Ben Grantham-Getty Images-iStock Photos

Today is Day 16 of my attempt to make daily yoga practice a habit. Yesterday I was running out of time and chose to do yoga practice over spending time in my art room – an amazing decision for me! I ended up making a smaller-than-normal space in the office because my husband was watching a rented movie in the living room where I normally practice. The practice went well and I was happy to add my sparkly star to my desk calendar. :0)

Today is the last day of July. My only ‘accomplishments’ for the month are

• the decision to try to get into a ‘yoga habit’, plus 16 days of yoga practice so far, increasing the time
• I made 8 Christmas presents for my friends
• I changed to the Mediterranean style of eating, deciding to significantly increase veggies and fruit
• My thyroid hormone is under control again (actually took 8 weeks)

Make this a good day!

Sunday 7-3-2022

Ulla T.

Right now we have our front and back doors open and ceiling fans on, enjoying a nice breeze airing out the house before it gets too hot and we have to close up and turn on the a/c.

123RF.com

I got a good start yesterday on the Christmas presents I’m making for my friends this year. I’m painting themed tote bags, personalizing them for each of my friends.

Yesterday I brought them downstairs and ironed them. I decided I would leave them on my desk down here so that I can work on them in-between other things, doing a bit at a time. There is a LOT of sketching to do on each of them. I don’t want to run the a/c upstairs in CASE I find time to work up there, and my life is such that good session times are harder and harder to find. Having them down here in the office will allow me to make some progress without disrupting our routine a lot. I wrote down notes on what I want to do on each one, and printed some reference pics from the net. I’ll work on them down here until it’s time to paint.

Unsplash

I didn’t SEE anything last night, but our down-in-the-valley-behind-us neighbors were setting something off, with a lot of popping and banging. Amber woofed some, but didn’t freak out.

We shared a tomato at lunch and another one at dinner yesterday. YUM! We could get used to this! :0)

My friends, Kay and Bud, are enjoying a visit from their son this weekend. My friend Linda is in Tennessee, enjoying visiting with one of her daughters and her family. It’s just my husband, our animals and me here, but I had a nice online chat with our son this morning. We’re all so lucky to have family.

I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday.

Cloudy Sunday

Silk Roads-flickr.com

I LOVE this troll! He’s so ugly I want to adopt him, though he looks like he’d wreak havoc on an hourly basis around the house…

ML Lewis

A last look at the beach. And what a virtual vacation it was! My SIL is home safe and sound and ready to take up her ‘regular’ life again. I’m hoping I’ll hear more details of her time on the beach soon. A last sunrise over which I can drool. Ahhhhhh.

Here in Arkansas it’s quite cloudy. A cold front is pushing through and the HIGH will be 66 today! Quite a change from the 90 degrees F. we’ve been having the past couple of weeks. At least we did not get any severe weather yesterday as we could have with the change. It looks like we could get rain at any time this morning. What a difference!

We have our yard irrigation system half solved. We got a timer yesterday, but it will only control one outflow. We have it set up for the BACK of our yard so it will handle the two tomato planters and our deck flowers. We’ll need to call our plumber to see if he can arrange another line for the front and then we can put another timer on that. We’ll see what he says.

No big plans for the day yet. I hope your Sunday is a good one.

Tired Sunday

Twitter.com

My husband and I were up most of the night. Something didn’t agree with him and he was really sick. I finally got some Alka Seltzer into him and that settled his stomach enough that he could finally sleep. I stayed up for a couple more hours after he went to sleep to keep a careful eye on him, then rested as much as possible, alert for any movement, the rest of the night. He’s weak and a bit shaky this morning, but is in his chair resting now and reading or watching TV. I’m hoping he’ll take a nap and rest. I’ll be relieved when he’s his normal, ornery self again. Meanwhile, I’ll watch him like a hawk.

Giphy

Our snow is melting fast. I’m waving ‘bye-bye’ without the slightest regret, silently telling winter not to let the door hit it in the butt on its way out. :0)

I wish you a happy Sunday.

Sunshine!

Pinterest

Alamy

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.

Twitter

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.

Thoughts on a Sunday 2-6-2022

flickr.com

We’re having a heat wave – sunny and 32 degrees F. right now! It’s supposed to get to the low 40s this afternoon. We’ll check again this afternoon, but I think our driveway will still look like something used in the Olympics. I’m really hoping my husband doesn’t insist we risk life and limb by trying to go to town anyway, when we have all we need.

Our cat, Abby, should be boasting to all her cat friends how ‘well-trained’ her people are. The driveway detector just went off. Since my husband is trying to take a nap, I leaped up to see what had caused the alarm. I opened the garage door and the cat calmly strolled inside. She didn’t seem impressed that I had acted so quickly, obviously assuming that this is her due… I was chatting with our son online when the alarm went off. He was amazed first that she set off the alarm, and second, that we jumped up to let her in. :0)

boredpanda.com

I am TRYING not to make what we’re eating the focus of our days. Since we’re stuck up here on our ridge line, there is still snow and ice on the ground and it’s COLD (even with the heat wave), I’m doing a lot of listening to music, reading, and watching TV – all sedentary things. Food then becomes ‘entertainment’ more than sustenance – a very bad thing.

I’m making promises to myself to MOVE more once Mother Nature gives us a break.

I hope that you are having a happy Sunday.

Sing It!

TheSilentConcert-badpsicsofbugsetc-fyeahshoebills.tumblr.com

It’s quite cool right now – 46 degrees F. and sunny here. It’s due to get to 74 this afternoon, so no complaints whatsoever from me. :0)

I’m pleased that the “ugly” Wonder Wart-Hog is up on the mailbox now, ready for the school kids to see it as they pass the bottom of the driveway on the bus tomorrow morning. I wonder if they’ll like it. My husband seems pleased with it, so that’s the most important.

Since I’m split between “should clean up my art room” and “should do some clean up in the yard,” I’ll try to devote half my day to each of those.

My art room is still a mess from the last ‘acrylic pour’ attempts (no success there yet), so I’d like to get it cleaned up and try to do one of the ‘impasto’ technique paintings with a pallet knife.

I’m trying to do a bit outside each time the weather is cooperative to get us ready for the winter.

Such a beautiful day! Enjoy your Sunday.

Thoughts on a Sunday 10-10-2021

Sara Pawsey-Pinterest

It’s a gorgeous day today. Sunshine and 72! I’m enjoying it now because we’re supposed to get severe storms from about midnight through 4am tomorrow. Hang on to your hats!

I’m heading out to our shop as soon as I finish talking with you. I’m going to try to finish side 1 of the Wonder Wart-Hog mailbox decoration. I don’t know if it will pass muster with my husband, and this is one of his favorite comic book characters. I’ll just do the best I can and then take him out to the shop later to see if I should keep going or if I should get the paint off, mark it again, and start over. Time will tell.

I’m not sure what else is on tap today. I should probably do some house cleaning –

silverwolfcards-shaz.blogspot.com

The above is SO true for me. Out to the shop!

Thoughts on a Sunday 10-3-2021

Onegreenplanet.org

We received some much welcome rain the past couple of days. My husband is muttering because the rain means our grass will grow and he’ll have to mow again. :0) It was nice. We opened front and back doors, enjoying a beautiful breeze and nice, fresh air throughout. I’m very happy the worst of the summer hot and humid is behind us now.

It was a fight, but we got the “Wonder Wart-Hog” mailbox decoration outline cut out on the CNC table last night. I don’t have a copy of the image we’re using, but I’ll take pics as we progress. We hadn’t done a new decoration for a long time. My husband had to figure out again how to make the program work that converts an image to G-Code, the language the computer can follow. We then had problems because the image was WAAAY too large. We came back in, changed the dimensions, and went back out to the shop, but the computer out there wasn’t seeing the changes. After several times back and forth, he figured out that while he saved the changes, he hadn’t run the “G-code” part of the program again. He did that, saved it, and we went back out. This time things looked good.

We ran the program without the torch turned on to make sure the torch wouldn’t run off the edge of the sheet metal anywhere. We had only part of one 4×8 sheet to use, so if we made a mistake, that would be the end of the project until we were able to go to Ft. Smith to buy more. Happily, it looked like we had a good amount for the image.

We changed the torch tips, then turned on the air compressor and the torch. I’m always fascinated to watch the torch move on its own, moving in a mysterious ‘dance’ over the sheet metal in a magical way, cutting a line trough the metal. We’ve had problems in the past with the torch acting up, but this time everything went well. The torch was going exactly the right speed to cut through the metal like butter.

The next step will be for my husband to make the metal attachment that we use to attach the piece to the mailbox. His hands shake now, so this may be a real challenge – one of the reasons we haven’t made many decorations lately. We are not in a hurry, so I’m encouraging him to do the welding in really short sessions, waiting for a less-shaky day or part of the day. If we can get this done, the next step will be marking the design on the cut out metal.

A young lady showed up at the door last night, asking if we had seen her dog. I’m not sure what kind of dog she had, but the picture showed a medium-to-larger sized dog with brindle coloring. She said her name is Bella. We hadn’t seen her. She left me her phone number. I will text her later to see if she has found her sweet dog.

I hope you’re having a good Sunday.

Another Week

thefunnybeaver.com

That’s only talking of money, though.

I am rich in SO many other ways –

• My husband loves me. We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary last June. Neither of us is easy to live with, but we have had the great opportunity to build and share our lives – a priceless treasure. I have to tell you that things get more challenging as we age, but the love that brought us together back in the Dark Ages, when I was 14 and he was 17, remains strong. It’s us against the world. We can still make each other laugh, and he can still melt me into a puddle.
• Although we lost our precious daughter, Jade, when she was two months old to SIDS, we won the lottery on sons. There is no greater joy than to see a child grow up, make their own way, be happy, and still be very, very close, respecting each other as people, enjoying whatever time we can spend together. Our son has chosen to live and work in Thailand. We don’t seem him physically very often because it costs a fortune for all the flights and he spent a full 24 hours getting to us the last time. Happily, he arranged a secure chat program that we use on a daily basis, sharing thoughts, questions, pictures, etc. He also arranged a conference call program where we can see each other and talk and laugh real time. I LOVE seeing his face, his smile.
• My husband and I are retired, so we can spend most of our days as we like – a real quality of life issue. We enjoy new found fun of creating yard art together, plus mailbox decorations, plus stained glass together. We are very different people, not even using the same salt – but we truly enjoy ‘fighting’ over what we want to make next, figuring out how to make it happen, what colors to use. and more.
• I can indulge my love of trying to grow flowers and veggies. I love it when the weather is such that I can spend time outside puttering around, celebrating successes, learning from failures.
• I can lose myself playing in my art room – a chance to try new techniques with a large trash can alongside. :0) I have the luxury of showing the better things on my page on Etsy
• The days aren’t long enough to do all I would like to. I’m constantly deciding what I would like to do next, knowing I’ll run out of time or energy before I want to.
• I have the luxury to wile away time enjoying a new thing – for example, I think I’ve told you that I love finding things on Pinterest. I’m a sucker for clips of America’s (or any other country) Got Talent. Today I found Brian Justin Crum. This man can blow you away with his voice.

I didn’t become unexpectedly rich this week in money – but in all other ways, I’m flying high. :0)

Olympics

mindbodygreen.com

This is the time I’m proud to live on the same planet as the magnificent Olympians from all over the world. Yesterday I caught some gymnastics, soccer, bicycling, archery, skateboarding and more. What a joy to watch people who have put all they are into their sport, trying to be the best they can be. I will try to catch more today, but we’ve been busy this morning. So far –

nydailynews.com

• My husband is out in the shop, trying to get the Vette back together. He SAYS it will be easier, but it looks like a lot of struggling to me. My fingers – and all my other parts are crossed that he is successful, without TOO many more ‘ouchies’ to add to his collection.
• I have the last load of laundry in the dryer, and will put clean sheets on the bed soon.
• I have gathered ripe tomatoes.
• I have cleaned “Mama” and “baby” snail yard critters and the first coat of the ‘re-paint’ is drying.
• I have vacuumed the tiled areas of our first floor (pantry, kitchen, dining area, 2 half baths, foyer, and utility room.)

Pinterest

Not sure what the rest of the day will hold. We have a nice, though very hot day, with a heat index of 100+. Thank GOODNESS for good a/c. :0)

pixdaus.com

Happy Sunday!

Thoughts on a Sunday 3-7-2021

Lowe’s

We spent from before lunch until 6:30 in the evening, but we got the new garage door opener installed and running yesterday. I am definitely coming back ( in my next life) as a combination weight lifter and basketball player who majored in fixing things.

The main thing that strikes me about the new opener is how QUIET it is compared to the one we replaced. I’m also very grateful we don’t have to manually haul the door up and carefully let it down now. A device that does that at a touch of a button is definitely a good thing. :0) It would be very nice if our garage were as clean as the one shown in the nice image above. No such luck.

We are resting today, still pretty whipped out with all the labor yesterday. The weather is gorgeous with reasonable temperatures and lots of sunshine. I will try to at least walk around the yard awhile before the afternoon is over, just to smile at the sun a bit, if nothing else.

I’m enjoying book # 29 “Widows Walk” by Robert B. Parker. I think there are 40 in the Spenser series, and I am truly enjoying revisiting his wit, sense of humor, wonderfully drawn characters, and clean writing.

I have spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker for dinner tonight. Nice Sunday.

I hope that YOUR Sunday is a good one, too.

Thoughts on a Sunday 1-3-2021

Twitter.com

Actually, the past week was a mixed bag.

THING ONE: FOOD-DIET-EXERCISE – I raked myself over the coals about stuffing too much food into my face and not exercising enough. My sister-in-law kindly told me to give myself a break and make little changes on a regular basis to get back to my better habits. My husband is determined wait to go back on our diet on the 6th – or maybe 7th – we haven’t completely hashed that out yet. I don’t know why we’re waiting. I guess it’s because we still have some wonderfully delicious bad stuff to eat our way through, though I am determined not to buy any MORE of it for myself. I got the makings of beef stew in the slow cooker this morning. We’ll have a bowl of that with a roll this evening. I will do my yoga stretches this afternoon.

THING TWO: WEATHER – Arkansas ran the gamut on weather this past week. We had sunshine and spring-like weather, as we’re having today, with sunshine and low 50’s. We had sleet and rain and gusty wind. We had drizzles and gloomy gray days. We had a PERFECT snow – with HUGE fluffy flakes coming down while we fixed lunch, making us feel we were in the middle of our own, private snow globe. (This was perfect because that gorgeous snow, though heavy, melted as it hit the ground and caused no trouble. :0) )

THING THREE: PLAYING IN MY ART ROOM – I discovered an art form that is new to me – bleeding tissue paper art. The effect is watercolor. The sky is the limit on what you can do with it. I found it on YouTube and watched some demonstrations, drooling. I found some people who do mouth-watering art with it, giving me some really high goals to try to reach as I practice. My sister-in-law sent me a package of large sheets of the special tissue paper to get me started. I ordered some pre-cut shapes in different sizes today that will be delivered in the coming week so I can concentrate on playing, saving the sheets for larger, more complicated shapes. I’m having a BLAST experimenting. :0)

Another thing for which I am setting up is painting some wooden fridge magnets. I can play with my Unicorn Spit paint for these. I can also see what happens with my alcohol inks, my new bleeding tissue paper, and more. I have the magnets, and my wooden circles should be delivered sometime next week.

THING FOUR: SUNDAY CHORES – I don’t have a lot to do today (translated to mean that I CHOOSE to do), but I WILL spend some time cleaning my aquarium so my fish can start the new year with sparkling clean water and some different decorations, just for giggles. I wish I knew what they THOUGHT about the decorations they have. I really wouldn’t mind it if the two of them held their noses when I started to put something in the aquarium they really don’t care for. They don’t say anything one way or the other. The only thing they DO that shows me they are really interested is both of them get into the corner of the tank, wriggling their bodies and opening and closing their mouths to HINT that they would like to be fed yet again. (Seems like they, too, are on a SPLURGE eating push until the 6th or 7th…. )

Have a happy Sunday!

Thoughts on a Sunday 12-20-2020

Bengal Tiger – Jagdeep Rajput – Comedy Wildlife – Forbes

I love this. It shows a great sense of humor. I’m still smiling. Thanks to the creator of it. :0)

Welcome Wildlife

When we started up our driveway yesterday, there were two white-tailed deer! We stopped and watched as they looked at us briefly and then crossed the driveway to disappear into the trees to the west of our property. Beautiful sight.

We had a really special Lunch Bunch on Friday with our friends. Since Christmas is next Friday, we exchanged gifts. We have been meeting at The Pizza Barn every Friday for over 17 years now, and this is more of a family gathering than simply really good friends. The two waitresses, Susan and Mikey, are a definite part of our family and we exchange gifts with them, too. My husband kept us all entertained by opening all of his food goodies, sampling each one (while waiting for his lunch order to be delivered) and then stashing them in a humongous gift bag, being quite territorial about his presents. The way the holidays fall this year, we won’t meet NEXT Friday or the NEXT – and will have to wait until Jan. 8th to meet again.

Otherwise, that is our Christmas this year. Our son is in Thailand, and I’m hoping that we can arrange a video chat either on Christmas day or that weekend sometime. There is 12 hours time difference, so it’s a bit of a challenge to find a time we’re all up and functional, but we’ll manage. I am grateful that we are all pretty healthy right now. I am thankful for a quiet holiday.

Today’s project is cleaning the aquarium. I will see if I can find something festive to put in their tank for the holidays.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Thoughts on a Sunday

Marabou Stork-photo credit unknown- via Penny Yaffe Krakow

If you have  a candidate for the “ugliest/most beautiful bird in the world,” please let me know. So far, I love the Shoebill Stork, the Tawny Frogmouth, and the Marabou Stork. I love them because they are unusual, and they have character.

We are at the end of our gorgeous weather streak and are back to normal August weather for Arkansas today. We will keep the doors open for a bit longer, and then close up and turn on the air conditioning.

Yesterday I started what will be a long project – dismantling the greenhouse that was killed by the storm.

I gathered a wheelbarrow load of things I can salvage. It is in the garage now. I will reorganize my counter area in there and store what makes sense there. The rest will go out to the shop. I also gathered a leaf bag full of trash. I will do this steadily, a bit at a time, until it is empty and then we can dismantle the shell.  I was amazed that the plastic tubs I was discarding wouldn’t hold together long enough for me to pick them up by the edges without shattering. I then used things that acted like a spatula to scoop them up and put them into the leaf bag.

The thermometer I keep out there showed 120 degrees yesterday – and this is on a COOL day here for August, showing one of the reasons the greenhouse didn’t work well for us. We couldn’t afford to add heating and cooling, and the cost to run it would have been astronomical. I will try to set up a seed-starting area in the future with a grow light in the garage, along with starting things on the window sill in the dining area, plus pots on the deck.

This shows you one of the many reasons I have hope for the future. The pandemic kept us from planting our usual flowers all around the house.  I thought we would be completely bare on the deck. Instead, seeds from the wave petunias we planted last year sprouted and have given us a lovely display. (If you look carefully, you can see our yellow lab, Amber, keeping me company while I took this picture. :0)

I am continuing my efforts to become a seller via Amazon Handmade, though I’m not making much progress yet. I’m trying to find out if I can simply put things up for sale via my regular Amazon account where I sell used books, or if I need to apply for separate accounts for each of the categories my products fit in. So far, everyone I manage to finally connect with gives me links back to Seller Central. Seller Central sends me to Handmade, and so the cycle from Hell continues…

All the good people in the path of storms Marco and Laura are in my thoughts and prayers.

Have a good day today and stay safe.

 

 

 

 

Good Morning

sayingimages.com

My husband is out mowing now – even though it’s too wet – because the rain has been such that there is NEVER a good time to do the job. It will have to be enough. Since the heat index today will be in the area of 110 degrees F., I’m glad he is out there getting the job over with now. (The weather people says it will get REALLY hot this coming week!) Right now, though, it is still cool enough to have the doors open and the ceiling fans on.

My zucchini and yellow crookneck squash plants are still looking healthy, but no actual veggies growing yet. The celery I planted is still alive and I have two more celery bottoms in water in the house. The onions continue to look good. I’ll go out later to see if we have more ripe tomatoes.

I worked on painting a new design of wooden earrings yesterday in my art room. I’ll post pics later.

I am hoping for a quiet day today.

I hope that YOUR Sunday is a nice one, too.

 

 

 

Yippeeeee!

picturequotes.com

Things are quiet so far today, and for that I am truly thankful.

I’m planning to head out to my garden after lunch to catch up on the weeding in my veggie planter boxes. I’m going to TRY to transplant two celery plants I started in the kitchen recently. If I have time and energy, I’ll do more weed killer spraying. This is all dependent on our weather cooperating, though.

Our forecast is for 100% chance of rain this afternoon. We had a good shower yesterday, and more is forecast for tomorrow. I should have expected all this rain. We just finished repairing our irrigation system. :0)

Yesterday I vacuumed the first floor tiled areas (kitchen, pantry, utility room, dining area, and two half-baths.) I also did PART of the carpeted first floor area yesterday, finishing it up this morning. I’m always amazed and disgusted at how MUCH dog and cat hair, plus dirt, plus ‘whatever’ I get every time. I’m lucky to have good vacuums. I refuse to vacuum more than every other day, though, so animal hair reigns here.

I was really tired when it was time to fix dinner. My husband twisted my arm :0)  and we called in and picked up fried rice for each of us. The restaurant is still on take-out only, and has simplified to offer only the medium size, so we have plenty for dinner tonight, too. That said, I’m planning to make a loaf of keto bread this afternoon.

I hope you’re having a fine day today and doing something FUN.

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on a Sunday 6-7-2020

picturequotes.com

Our Sweet dog Molly is better with the antibiotics and pain/inflammation medicine we got from our vet. She is sleeping now, but actually barks to be let outside and then barks again to come back in – playing the ‘system’ of getting a treat for doing that – over and over. I’m playing right along. The swelling on her mouth has gone down a lot and she actually smiles at me when I hug and pet her. Each day is a gift now.

Molly Resting

 

I worked out in the yard early this morning, since the heat index for the afternoon is forecast to be 105 degrees F. My husband had asked me to spray weed killer on the north side of our shop. I mixed up a 2-gallon container and hosed everything down there, plus around my garden and under my planter boxes. I have just put Benadryl Ointment on the tops of my feet and my ankles because they are acting like I must have walked through poison-something-or-other. :0(

I also used our heavy duty tomato cages to prop up our now really bushy tomato plants in both brick planters on the far side of the yard from the main garden. We now have little bitty green tomatoes!  I hooked up the hose and gave both planters a good drink. We haven’t hooked up our irrigation system for the yard because we have been getting a good amount of rain until the past few days. We are due to get the remnants of Cristobal tomorrow evening, so all should get a good drink.

These are the yellow crookneck squash and zucchini plants I put in the garden recently. They are looking happy, but haven’t started sending out vines everywhere yet.

My husband had a second stroke recently. We went to our primary doctor, who wanted him to have tests, but he refused. He said to me, “Last time we did it YOUR way (meaning testsa and doctor appointments), so this time we will do it MINE.” Needless to say, I’m not happy about this, but he is adamant. (If you look up the word “stubborn” in the dictionary, you will find my husband’s picture.) So we will HOPE that he doesn’t have another stroke for a long time (the time between the first one and this one was almost one year.) I will continue to try to keep him as healthy and happy as possible.

Rick James-Quotefancy

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. Take care and stay safe.

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.

Thoughts on a Sunday 1-19-2020

Secretary Bird-New Animalbook-Steve Stehr-via Penny Yaffe Krakow

I’m delighted/relieved to report that I’m feeling GOOD this morning! Not sassy yet, but on my way. I have thrown out a lot of food, since I don’t know what caused my problem (all were things that “I” eat, and my husband doesn’t, such as cottage cheese, raw veggies, etc.) We will go to the grocery store soon to replenish our supplies and start with a clean slate again. WHEW!

Even though our weather is a bit cold, gray, and raw, we have NO snow or ice – another thing for which I’m grateful. :0)

I finished painting a tee shirt before I got sick.

 

I’m looking forward to getting up to my art room this afternoon. I have started earrings for myself and another wooden plaque.

Fingers are crossed that I’ll feel good enough by tomorrow to get back to my daily elliptical trainer and yoga practice.  Right now I’m feeling very happy with not having my food poisoning symptoms – but my body will be happier when I can be more active again.

123RF.com

I wish you a happy, healthy Sunday!

Thoughts on a Sunday 12-22-2019

istockphoto

And we have water pressure!

After two days of non-stop work, we enjoyed nice hot showers with reasonable pressure last night! We had two big blowouts twice when we were doing a last ‘tightening up’ to stop a couple of drips, so we declared victory the third time and left the drips going. We would like to increase the pressure a bit more, but will wait to do it until we have the leaks stopped. I have called our plumber, who has agreed to come out after Christmas ( We told him this was not an emergency.)  We are hoping it will be a quick job for him and a final fix for us. Meanwhile, we’ll monitor things in the well house for any big problems.  Ahhhhhh!

Today will be a happy day for us. We’ll go grocery shopping and stop off at a friend’s house to check on them and take a present or two. Later this afternoon, I’ll do it again with another friend. :0)

Otherwise, we will do a lot of resting.

I hope your day is great, too.

Thoughts on a Sunday 12-15-2019

Kanno Hisao

It’s 42 degrees F. today – gray, wet and downright depressing outside.

When we left, we stopped at our mailbox to change our decoration.

We were really cold, trying to loosen nuts and change out cold metal decorations in the wind, but I’m glad Santa is up now, maybe waving at folks as they pass our driveway.

We got our groceries for the week. When we got home, I spent the next hour prepping food. My husband saw I had a lot to do, so HE browned the roast to go in the crock pot for tonight. I think that’s the first time in the 50-1/2 years we have been married that he has done that. I tried not to act shocked, and thanked him when he finished, giving him a big hug. :0)

While he was browning the roast, I cut up strawberries for his desserts, plus carrots, radishes, and celery to go with cherry tomatoes as part of my lunches. Now, all is finished and I’m relaxing with a cup of coffee.

I finished painting and spraying the two sizes of discs for the experiment on clip-on earrings. If I get them together today, I’ll post pics and you can tell me what you think.

I made a big push yesterday and am almost finished getting Christmas presents ready. I’m giving all handmade this year, and the Lunch Bunch group is exchanging gifts this coming Friday.

I finally found the large tub of Christmas decorations I’ve been looking for for a couple of WEEKS now. The tub was in the storage space under our stairs. I have the decorations about 2/3 finished now, and am definitely starting to get into the spirit. My husband was able to dictate (while I typed)  a Christmas letter to go into the cards of friends and family we don’t see all the time. I may get to the Christmas cards, too.

Definitely a day to enjoy being warm and dry here. I hope that wherever you are, you are able to enjoy the day.

Thoughts on a Sunday 11-17-2019

Cindy Basnett Thurman

I finished raking and making mulch for 7 brick planters yesterday. My body is saying, “You thought you were 20, didn’t you. Haahahahaahahah.”  I’m hoping that we won’t get the predicted rain and that the temperature gets close to the 58 predicted so that – armed with my leaf blower, leaf mulcher, yellow plastic leaf-scooping ‘hands’, and a trash bag –  I can finish the other 5 planters this afternoon.

 

Unsplash

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday. I want to do something special for him, but he ‘doesn’t want to talk about it.’ He says he is ‘too old to celebrate birthdays.’ I think I’ll surprise him with a pineapple upside down cake (one of his favorites) and see if I can make him grin…

I hope that YOUR Sunday is a nice one, too!

 

Thoughts on a Sunday 11-3-2019

Aussie Life-kookaburras

“Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,

That’s not a  monkey, that’s me. Ha. Ha.”

I love this photo. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually SEEN a kookaburra, much less a glorious whole ROW of them. I always think of the song we sang as children. (I’ve taken some liberties with the words in the lyrics above. WE sang it the way I’ve printed it, which skips two verses and moves the very last line to the first verse.)

I’m happy to report that my husband is doing fine now after his stroke in July. The sudden anger outbursts – apparently a common side effect of strokes – are MUCH fewer now. Though he glosses over the details of how to handle the fact he’s on blood thinners, I’M learning to pay closer attention and make sure things turn out the way they should. He has a dental appointment tomorrow. To give you an example of how he is ‘back,’ he took the Vette to the car wash this morning to clean it up so he can drive it to the dentist’s appointment tomorrow. (He and the dentist talk motorcycles, cars, guns, and such each time he goes.)

I’m also happy to tell you I broke new ground on my scales this morning! The scales actually SMIRKED at me, as we got into fresh, new, lower territory as I grinned back. I HOPE this continues, as I still have a lot of lard I’d like to shed.  Though it is much harder to lose the lard the older you get, I’m proving to myself that it IS possible.

A man contacted me yesterday, discussing buying 5 of my new Unicorn Spit plaques. He’s talking to friends today and is supposed to get back to me tomorrow.  He understands that these are one of a kind and that I cannot do exactly the same thing twice. Fingers – and all other appendages – are crossed. I’m working on flat wooden Christmas ornaments again today, seeing how they will turn out with this same wonderful paint.

The weather is beautiful, with a high in the low 60’s today! Gorgeous fall weather. I’ll try to get outside this afternoon and get a good amount of clean up of our planters done.

I hope that wherever you are, you are enjoying this gorgeous Sunday – AND that you remembered to set your clocks back last night.

 

 

Thoughts on a Sunday 10-27-2019

Slice of Life

Today when we were shopping for groceries, we saw families with big pumpkins in their shopping carts. Since we live on top of a ridgeline 650+feet up a steep driveway, we don’t get trick or treaters anymore. I love to see the delight on the children’s faces. I wish I could say we made wonderful jack-o-lanterns when our son was young and we were BURIED in so many trick or treaters we had to BUDGET to be able to pay for all the candy. Alas, I was lucky to manage the traditional jack-o-lantern without cutting off a finger or two. That’s why I truly love searching the net each year to see what the creative people are coming up with. I’m amazed at all the wonderful ideas and the amazing talent I find!

When checking our local weather website, I discovered that starting Wednesday of this coming week, we’ll have FREEZING temperatures each morning! My husband and I were out in the yard yesterday happily looking at some blooming roses, impatiens, and some clematis. It looks like they only have a few days left.

Because of the coming freezes, we got busy with our ‘Prep for Winter’ list. We have added to this list, starting many years ago, having learned the hard way that if we don’t pay attention and be proactive, we end up in a world of hurt with freezing pipes, etc. One year we lost the generator in the well house. We now have  a larger, propane powered generator that is much more reliable. When you live out in the sticks, you learn that you’ll be last in line when help is needed. The more you can take care of your own needs, the better.

So today we turned off our irrigation system that waters all the flowers around the house and on the deck. We unhooked and drained the system as much as possible. We pulled hoses out of the well house and plugged the holes in the brick for the winter. We plugged in a thermostat-controlled electric heater our there, plus lit the pilot light of the propane-powered heater that keeps our pipes from freezing. We then walked around the house, closing outside vents, unhooking hoses, and putting styrofoam faucet covers on the outside faucets. We unhooked the irrigation system hose for the veggie garden and wrapped the control in bubble wrap and a baggie with tape. We ran one of the ride-on mowers out of gas for storage. There is much more on the list, but we’ll handle those another day.

We had a nice texting chat with our son who is back home in Thailand. He is finally making progress on getting his hours straightened out, rather than being awake and asleep and hungry at the wrong times. He is back to morning exercise, meditation, and working with his partners.

I fixed the ‘keto chili’ by Suzanne Ryan of Simply Keto last night. My husband pronounce it “Delicious!” Went on to say, “I’ll be happy to eat this ANY time!” and finally, “Can we eat what’s left tomorrow night?”

I’m going to try to get reasonable pictures of the 5 plaques I painted with the Unicorn Spit stain/glaze and list them on ArtFire.

I’ll also make time for my elliptical trainer and my yoga practice.

I hope you’re having a wonderful, sunshine-y fall Sunday.

 

 

Good Morning! 10-6-2019

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

This is the sweetest picture of a tiger I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it’s photo-shopped or what, but I love it. I just HAVE to smile back. :0)

I hope your Sunday is full of warm hugs and laughter.