Flowers and Art!

Its another lovely cool morning again. So nice outside. The temps are suppose to creep back up today but the humidity is still going to be low so it will be tolerable. Daniel has a bad summer cold. He is pretty miserable today with a sore throat, and a bad cough. He is trying to feel better, he never gets sick but when he does it hits him hard. I am trying hard not to get it. Taking extra vitamin C, and not kissing him,lol. I hate summer colds,,they are so hard to get rid of.
Yesterday I picked some of my Gladiolas and Sunflowers for a bouquet. It is sitting on my Art bookcase. This is where I put some of my newest ATCs and the lovely altered shoe that I recieved in a swap. The ATCs are in a little metal photo holder that I got at a thrift store, also some in a rolodex holder.
The yellow sunflower is so big and pretty,,it almost doesn't look real! My White Hibiscus bush is full of blooms and will bloom very soon. When they do bloom I will take some pictures of them and tell you the funny story behind them. Also the moonflowers will bloom soon too!
I am going to go to my Moms today to do some Art. I told her about a new technique I learned and she has been going to town on it. She is more dedicated than I am. She will work in her art studio all day and night,,,I burn out quicker,,lol.
Hope every one has a wonderful week-end!

Bee

Nothing is like a soul as is a bee. It goes from flower to flower as soul from star to star, and it gathers honey as a soul gathers light-Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862

Cool weather in July

Not sure why we are getting a little cool spell,,but I am not complaining. Its so nice outside today! After getting some much needed rain yesterday, woke up this morning to sunshine, and no humidity. The highs today are only going to be 83 and low of 59 at night. Same tomorrow too! We usually don't get these little cool snaps this time of year,,,what a unusual summer. Yesterday I stayed in my art room and played with some different techniques. I am making some postcards,,just because. I am sending them to some friends as RAKs,,,so I won't post pics of them,,lol.
I need to weed my garden as the soil is perfect for it right now. Last week the ground was so hard and dry there was no way I could pull or hoe any weeds. I also have a disc that likes to flare up every now and then,,and its been twinging off and on the past few days,,so I don't know if I will be able to do much weeding.
Several of my friends have been having some health issue with their precious cats,,and one dear friend lost her sweet Kitty recently. So I am going to post a picture of my own little sweetie. She is about 4 or 5 years old. She was a stray that we adopted. Our area is outside of Nashville and people love to come dump their animals out here,,,,isn't that nice? Any ways, she has been a truly great cat. She had 3 little kittens and we found great homes for them, and then had her spayed. She stays outside mostly,,but she comes in to eat and nap, and if its a boring night,,she will stay in and sleep with her Mama and her bratty sister(our rat terrier),,and Daddy.
Now Daddy isn't much of a cat fan,,but he does admit that she is one of the cooler cats he has ever lived with,,lol. It was so funny because she doesn't hang with him an knows that he isn't exactly crazy about her,,but the night she had her kittens we were sitting outside and she jumped up in his lap and snuggled up to him. Well,,,he was pretty speachless,,so was I! I told him then,,,"She must be delerious with labor pains",,lol. And sure enough, we got up the next morning with 3 kittens under our daughters bed. So heres Carl,,,(named by our 2 crazy daughers).

Wet Wednesday!!

Ahhhh,,,at last,,,RAIN!!! It was so nice to wake up early this morning and hear the rumble of thunder and the pitter patter of rain drops on my windows. And its a pleasant 72 degrees. I went outside to take the Brat dog out and all of my flowers were smiling and the grass was greener. This is the first good rain we have had in 3 weeks.
I told DH today that it seems to rain almost every year the day after the Fourth. I think its because of all the stuff that was shot up into the atmosphere on the Fourth. And then yesterday we had the Space shuttle that went up,,and also some missiles from Korea,,thanks to the crazed idiot that runs that country.
I don't think anyone was really aware of how tense of a time it was for our Homeland Security Department and our Military. They later said on the news that we were gearing up for a possible nuclear strike. They sure kept it low keyed,,,maybe they didn't want to ruin our Fourth of July? I guess I probably would rather it be that way. Who would want to have a barbeque if you new your were getting ready to be barbqued,,,lol. I am not making fun,,as it truly does scare me,,, espiecally when you know that the idiot who runs Korea is a alcoholic who puffs his hair up and wears lifts in his shoes to make him taller and lusts after tall Swedish blonde women. I saw this on a PBS tv special,,and thought" so if he gets drunk and pissed because he can't find a blond for the night,,he just pushes the button?" Whew,,,,,just another thing to try not think about,,lol.
Well I have a nice quiet house again today. Daniel was home for 4 days,,,I love him being home,,but boy is he noisy,,lol. He's been staining and varnishing all the door frames and hanging them back up. Just when I go in the craft room and start getting into a project,,in he comes. And he has to have music when he works,,and it has to be loud so he can hear it over the hammering,,lol. Well,,,there goes my muse,,,she likes quietness or some soft Enya playing when she is creating. But I do appreciate how pretty he makes our house look so I just stiffle it,,lol.
Well its starting to thunder and lighten again,,guess I better get off of here for now. Its raining really hard too,,,Love it!

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy July 4th! We celebrated ours last night. Both of the kids came out and we grilled out some hamburgers and hot dogs. We also did alot of fireworks. We had to watch them carefully and make sure they all were out good as it is so dry here. We are suppose to have some much needed rain move in tonight and all day tomorrow.
We decided to do our celebration last night as Kyle and Kalyn both have to work tonight, and Daniel has to work early tomorrow morning. It was so nice having both of the kids here. I am so proud of both them,,they are starting to mature and become very nice young adults.
I will probably do something crafting today,,watch a movie,,and Daniel and I have a couple nice fireworks left for us to do together tonight.
I got some sad news on Sunday. A good Art friend of mine had a stroke. We are members of a group called Tennessee Stampers(yahoo). We all get together for retreats and DRIs and classes and just have a blast. Well, she woke up saturday morning and felt kind of funny,,then started having problems talking and walking. Her husband took her to the emergency room and they found she had a stroke. She is now paralyzed on her left side. Can't talk very well and is having terrible muscle spasms. We all having been praying so hard for her. I sent a card that I made to her yesterday. I hope she will get it tomorrow. They say she is really depressed. She is such a great Artist,,her ATCs are so pretty and her greeting cards too. She is also a member of one our ATC groups. We do ATCs cards of the month and I had her name for July,,so I put her ATC in the card so she could enjoy it while she is recooperating. We hope she will get some use back in her left side,,she will be going to rehab after the hospital for intense physical therapy. She is only in her late 50s,,so sad.
Hugs to Judy!!!!
Just going to post some cute vintage July 4th pictures. Any one is welcome to save them. They are off a cd that I bought this past year so they are copy right free.
To all my great Blogger friends,,,HAVE WONDERFUL AND SAFE FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Melting Monday!

Well its going to be another hot one today! Yesterday it was 97,,felt like 105. Today is the same. The humidity hasn't been as bad as it could be though. We have not had any rain for almost 3 weeks. We get pop up thunderstorms,,but for some reason they never pop up over us. We can see and hear them as they get close,,but they are just teasing me. So of course,,every night after the sun goes down,,and twilight is setting in,,,I am dragging the hose pipe all over the yard,,watering, watering, watering. I swear I can hear my flowers saying "AHHHHHH". LOL They would much rather have sweet rain water,,but you can't be choicy in this weather. My moonflowers are really growing up the new trellis that I put up this summer. And they have buds on them,,so soon they will be popping open. Also my big dinner plate hibiscus has zillions of buds on it,,and will be blooming soon. I can't wait!
Ok,,yesterday,,I was just plain lazy. I just vegged all day,,lol. We went out saturday to try to find a small little pool that we could fit on our back bottom deck,,as thats the only level place in the backyard,,,but we couldn't find one that would fit on it,,bummer. So we bought this really cool fan at Lowes. You can attach a water hose to it and it blows this wonderful cool mist out. Well me and the fan were chillin in the yard,,I mean even in the hot broiling sun,,,I had goosebumps from the chilly mist. I wish I had invented that. So I just laid in the sun,,then watched some movies. Harrison Ford's movie "Firewall" is pretty good,,kind of violent though. But he still looks pretty fine. And also "Failure to Launch",,,well, it was rather stupid,,funny in some parts but plain dumb in others,,but Matthew McConaughey on a surf board made up for it all,,lol. Hmmmm, I sound like a "dirty old lady",,,lol.
I did finish my white chunky book pages and will be sending them in. I scanned a picture of it,,and hopefully the blogger king will let me post it.

Spoiled rotton

This was spoiled rotton little ole me,,lol. And my two brothers. I was the only girl,,and the baby,,so you know I was rotton. The brother on the right is 8 years older than me. He was my bestfriend and still is to this day. He took such good care of me when I was little. Mom said he would come home every day from school looking for his "baby". I can remember him laying down in bed with me at night(I never wanted to go to sleep),,and he would tell me stories and jokes. He is a great brother. My other brother and I aren't so close,,10 years difference and personality differences. But my Ricky,,,he is my big bubba!

My Daddy

This is my Daddy when he was in the Navy in WWII. He was always a very good looking man, even as he got older. He had a very hard childhood,,lost his Mom at young age and had a father who didn't treat him so great.
He was a good dad to me and my brothers. He had the funniest sense of humor,,but also had some bad mood swings. Which I, and my brother's inherited. Daddy loved to dance, and travel. We always went to Florida every summer,,he loved the beach. He also was a great photographer. He died of Leukemia 19 years ago on Christmas day. I was pregnant with my daughter. My brother and I stayed with him to the end, we knew he would have done the same for us. I still miss him!

more oldies

This is my Grandfather. He is my Mom's dad. I never met him because he passed away when she was 13 yrs old. Mom said he was a great dad,,took time with her and her 2 sisters. He was a fireman,,and tried to help the less fornate that lived around his firehall. She said when he died, they placed his casket in the Firehall and all the people he had helped came to pay their respects.
His death was caused by Sulfer medication that he was on for strep throat,,he was allergic to it. I am also allergic to sulfer.
They use to dress up in those days for photos,,I wonder if he had always wanted to be a cowboy?

A few oldies!

I just wanted to post a few of the old pictures I have. My favorites!

This is one of my Mom and her girlfriends in High School. Don't they look like they were mischevious? Love the old cars in the background,,Mom is the one on the right.

Fridays rambles.

Another week has flown by, and Aug. 10 is looming ahead of me. I have July left now, then back to work. I try to get it out of my head and not think about it(can you tell I love my job?)
I have been mulling alot of things around in my head this week,,lots of decisions and choices that I want to make. So I guess I will have to come out of my turtle shell and start making them happen.
Like my dear friend Annie, I plan to start de-cluttering my creative space. I have to decide what I am most happiest at creating. The problem is that I have too many ideas that run through my mind,,I want to do them all! But I have to be realistic.
Also I have been working hard on the excess pounds on my poor old frame,lol. I have learned that in order to actually lose weight I can only eat very small portions,,and no potatoes,pasta, or bread. Luckily I Love Veggies and Fruit and this is the time of year for them. I have alot of cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes that are starting to ripen in my small veggie garden. I am also hitting the fruit stands religously every week.
Last night we grilled several chicken breasts on the grill and they are so good. I am a charcoal grill girl,,I grill out almost every night in the hot summer,,keeps the house cooler when you don't use the oven.
Since monday I have lost 6lbs,,,amazingly,,but most of it was of course "excessive" water. And the first 2 days were tough,,learning to eat less is hard work,,,I go through withdrawals,,lol. Headaches, sleep problems,,and very moody. But now I am feeling more normal. I also am back on my treadmill and doing my weights.
Yesterday I made a collage for my daughter's friend whose wedding we attended last week-end. She came and got it yesterday along with the cds that I burned of her wedding pics. Her husband was with her and when I gave her the collage she starting crying...She loved it,,and he did too. They both said that it was the best present that had recieved. That made me feel so good as I know that received some very nice presents and alot of cash. They just got a new apartment and were headed home to hang it on the wall. I was so thrilled and felt so happy the rest of the night! I am posting the picture of it today.

Ms. Turtle

I wish I could be like Ms. Turtle. Just stick my head in my shell when life comes at me too fast. Where I can retreat into my safe snug little place,,and lick my wounds,,and shore up my defenses,,and figure out my path again.

tuesdays thoughts

Just having some coffee and thinking about alot of things that have been heavy on my mind lately. I woke up at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep, I hate itwhen that happens. I know why it happens but still,,I don't like not being able to sleep.
Well today, Mom is coming to spend the night. We are going to work on our quilt art book pages for a swap that we will be participating in for the next few months. We do a page a month, send to hostess and she will swap them out. We have a different theme each month.
Oh,,and thanks to my good dear friend Annie,,I have now mastered the posting of my blog links. Thanks so much AnnieElf!
Just going to post some misc. pics today. One of the pics are of my children when they were sweet babies. I just love this pic and it is so fitting for summer.
I have been flogging myself because I had so many plans for this summer, and as usual, I haven't followed through. I was going to be so creative,,make so many different things. Organize the whole house,,(yeah right). I so Love being off during the summer,,but yet it just seems to fly by. Here it is almost the first of July,,next comes August, and then back to work.
I just wish I could stay home,,,I have worked since I was 15,, with some time off for Babys. I know I have been lucky to be off in the summers, espiecally while the kids where young.
So quit complaining Beth!
Also trying to post some pics of my cds that I did for a swap and some of my newest ATCs. I Love the hummingbird and flower. They are some of my newest stamps.
Hope my friends in CA are staying as cool as possible,,I sure do feel for you as I know how miserablely hot summers can be. I think this Global warming is totally getting worse, as the weather stays so mixed up all the time. We are going to be in the low 80s today,,and for the end of June in Tennessee,,well that just ain't right,,,lol. But I will not complain,,I will try to send it to my friends in CA!!!! Hang in there,,,it will probably snow next month!
I don't know why but for some reason my pics will not post if I choose to center them,,only seem to post on the right or left,,,bloggerblip.

more wedding pics

Awesome week-end!

What a great time I had this week-end. The wedding was so lovely. Kalyn and I went down on friday night to their cabin. I had never been there and didn't know what to expect. Well, it was beyond my expectations, thats for sure. We got off the interstate and went several miles back into the wilderness,,winding country roads and then gravel roads. Then we came to the driveway to the cabin. The fence by the road was fully decorated for a wedding, so we knew we were in the right place,lol.
This cabin is smack in the middle of 108 acres. There is a big lake that they just put on the property that is fed by a spring. The Tennessee River is less than a mile away. The lake is fully stocked with so many different kinds of fish. And alot of ducks.
The brides father is a sportsman. He hunts everything and fishes too. We have a big deer population here in Tennessee. I don't like to see anything killed, espeically cute bambis,,but it must be done in order for the deers to not over populate. We already have numerous deers died on the interstate. He does not waste any thing he kills,,they use the meat and hides,,so if thats in redeeming quality then thats probably that and keeping the population down. (Can you tell I am not a hunter?)
Ok,,back to the cabin. The land was bought by her Dad's father in the 80s,,he was a sportsman too. They have built this cabin into a very beautiful show place. The inside looks like something out of a hunting magazine. Every kind of animal and fish on the walls. Its actually pretty neat,,It is a hunting lodge feel to it. There is 2 lofts on both sides. Kalyn and I slept in one of the lofts,,it was a little creepy sleeping under a deers head,,lol.
Her parents and her were so tired when we got up there on friday night. Her mom and grandmother and Aunts, had been decorating all week and it was so pretty. We ate dinner then sat on the big porch for awhile,,Hillary gave Kalyn a beautiful necklace for being her Maid of Honor. They have been bestfriend since 6th grade. After that they went to bed early to rest up for the big day.
Kalyn and I sat up for awhile on the porch. It was so nice. You could hear no traffic, no cars, nothing,,,but quiet and animals and birds. So peaceful. And I treasured sitting there with my daughter and talking and laughing. It was healing for us.
The next day was busy,,getting the cakes , dressing the bride and her attendants. Bathing the baby,,and meeting all of her very nice family. The wedding was so pretty,,and Hillary was gorgeous,,so was Kalyn. I took over 150 pictures for them. I will be burning them to a disc for her, her parents , and the grooms family. I am also going to print some and make a small scrapbook for Hillary to carry around with her. Her Mom and family will take the discs and have printed what they want to print. They are just really nice people,, I was so glad to be a part of this special day and celebrate Hillary and Chris special union. And also see my daughter looking so grown up and beautiful. My prayers are for the couple's wonderful beginning for a life of togetherness and much Love!

Finally Friday

Its Friday again,,the weeks are going to fast! August 10 will be here before I know it and then I will be back at work in my lovely concrete office with no windows,,yuck! Oh well, at least I get my summers off so I really should stop complaining,,lol.
Its hot outside right now,,but some thunderstorms are heading in and suppose to cool us down for the week-end. I hope so, as tonight we leave to go to Kalyn's friends cabin for the wedding tomorrow. Kalyn spent the night with me on Wednesday night,,we had fun just sitting by the pond and talking. She went with me to get my haircut yesterday and then we did lunch.
I am taking her to get her hair fixed before we leave town this week-end. She is going to have it put up in a very pretty up-do. I have my camera and tripod ready,,and some of the ideas wrote down on how I want to take pictures of the wedding.
It is going to be outside so I am sure it will be very pretty. Hillary, her friend, and her groom have been together 2 years,,they have a little boy who will be 1 year old next month. He was a accident but a very precious one. Chris has been a very supportive father to be so young,,and both of their parents have been supportive. I think that is the key to their survival and to helping them make this such a wonderful day for them tomorrow.
I am getting fustrated with my lack of skills in getting my blog the way I want it. Kalyn has a blog and I wanted her to show me how to post links and to help me make mine pretty, but we didn't get a chance. I am hoping one day next week she will be able to help me. I have tried a zillion times to post links in my sidebar, but I just can't seem to do it right. But I will keep on until I do it right,,I am not a quitter!
Just going to post a few pics today of my pond and where I love to sit and reflect and meditate.

A few ATCs

I don't have much to post today.. so I will just post a few ATCs that I just recently completed. Also working on my white chunky book pages. Have to go get my hair cut this morning. Another hot one today,,but rain and storms tonight and tomorrow. My sweet flowers love that rain!

My add for Artella!

I am a member of the wonderful art and writing group at Artella! Well recently I took the challenge to create a add for "Artella's inspiring adds". They send you some vintage adds and you re-do them and create adds the inspire creativity. I Love playing around in my Paintshop Pro, and creating digital art. So,,thats what I did with the add. I sent it back to them several weeks ago, and wasn't sure if they were going to publish it or not on the site. Well, I got my news letter today and there it was. I was so excited. This is a great site,,I love the inspiration that I receive at Artellas! I am posting a pic of the original add, then the add that I altered.
Please check out Artellas site,,you will love it!
http://www.artellawordsandart.com/index.html

Hot and Humid, summer in the south!!!

After two days of some pretty good rain(which we really needed) and cooler temps, its heating back up here. Mid 90s by tomorrow and 90% humidity. But thats the way the it is in the south in the summer. It sure took my husband a few years to get use to our lovely southern summers. He moved here from beautiful Washington State. The summers in Washgington were hot,,but not humid,,nor were there alot of bugs. He loves his beer, but learned really quick that you cannot drink much of it in the hot sun here,,lol. Now he just does gatorade and water,lol, and has a couple of beers in the evenings when its cooler. He is a hard worker, and makes our house look so nice. He has built a beautiful sun room on our house. Also numerous flower beds and our pond area. He is a civil engineer during the day and comes home to be a carpenter at nights and week-ends. He has almost finished with our flooring,,he puts extra care on his finishing work. His work is very precise,,he is not a" slap it up and call it good" kind of guy,,he takes his time and makes it look awesome! I feel so lucky to have him as a husband. Our relationship is good and gets stronger every day. Everyone says that he is so skinny,,but he eats and eats and doesn't gain a pound(how lucky,,),,,he has weighed the same for the last 25 years. He is also very strong. He is also a good father! The picture is how he generally looks on the week-ends,,his do-rag on, and paint all over him, or saw dust, spackle, glue, dirt,ect...,,but he cleans up really nice too! He is truly my partner and bestfriend!! I Love you DB!!!

saturday's news

Another hot day today,,but a good chance of rain by this afternoon,tonite and tomorrow. It has been dry for the past 2 weeks,,having to water the flowers every day. Yesterday was spent doing a little father's day shopping (for a electric razor). Also stopped at Michaels to buy a few things to finish up a scrapbook that I made for the girl across the street for a graduation present. I finished it last night. This girl and my daughter were bestfriends for many years. When we moved in she was 5 years old,,and sat across the street with big eyes looking at all the toys coming out of the moving van,,espeically the girl toys,,lol. I instantly inheritit another daughter. He parents worked alot and an older teen-age sister kept her most of the time until we moved in. She is very pretty,,,she won alot of beauty pageants as a child and teen,,and won a scholarship to college for cheerleading. Its so hard to believe that she is now 18 and heading to college.
I am also making a wedding scrapbook to give the Kalyn's bestfriend who is getting married next week-end. I am taking pictures at the wedding, so I am going to make a mini scrapbook the same size as the one I just made. I really like making scrapbooks. Alot of people who do Rubber stamping have problems with scrapbookers,,,I have never understood that,,as you can use your stamps and make great scrapbooks,,just some kind of dumb taboo.
Any ways,,I am headed up to Moms today,,we are going to do a fabric book swap in one of our groups,,so we may go to walmarts to get some material. I have to go to Big Lots to get another one of those expensive photo albums for the wedding scrapbook($1.99),,lol. I am going to try to post a pic of the scrapbook that I just made. Also a pic of my daughter Kalyn at the river the other day,,,she was showing me a new dance move that she learned,,lol. She was so much fun to be with,,,I had really been missing her. So glad I get to spend the week-end with her next week-end.