From Winter to Spring

I had to show you some of the trees around the river as the season changed from winter to spring. These lilac ones are my favorite as far as spectacular spring color (although these people up the street have this large uglyish round bush type thing that had amazing yellow blossoms for maybe a week, then back to large uglyish round bush type thing for another year). (In fact, I really kind of wondered why they let that thing stay (has to be at least 6 feet in diameter and at least 4 feet tall), then I saw the gorgeous blossoms. Still, I don't know if I could do it just for the spectacular show once a year.)

Beautiful Flowers

I really love it when winter turns into spring and all those lovely flowers start to come out (or are planted!). Seems like we only had a few weeks of spring like weather this year before all the storms and weather patterns have kind of left us hot and humid for weeks.

The red rose and purple flower I have planted in pots on my back patio. The yellow flower is a perennial and is growing down by the Bear fountain (our walks by the river sometimes take us by the fountain). There are many wonderful flowers that grow wild by the river and I look forward to showing them to you in the weeks to come.

A Day of Remembrance

Today we pause on our journey to remember those who have gone on before us. We are thankful for all the service men and women who have given their lives so that we may be free. Their sacrifice does not go unnoticed. We also pause to remember loved ones who have run and finished their race and whose absence leaves empty spaces in our hearts and lives that only they could fill. We are thankful that they watch over us now and we will be re-united after we have run our own race. Brownie and I's journey is filled with a little more walking than running, but still.... We want to take time to smell the roses (or the mushrooms, or the wild honeysuckle, or the river....)

Much to our delight....Mushrooms!

Well whadya know, the mushrooms are back! With all the tearing out of trees, ripping up the earth to make new paths, and generally being a nuisance to us and nature (for keeping us from our path for a year and nature for uprooting and disturbing the area), nature has prevailed!

On our walk near the beginning of the month, Brownie took me off the beaten path (as we both like exploring AND traipsing off the beaten path) and I was following her. I glanced down and gasped. There, much to my delight, were the first mushrooms I've seen in over a year. Look how cute they are (huddled close to the tree for protection). Beauty, thy name is mushroom.

Tornado Damage on our newly opened trail

We are back on our walking trail!!!

Our usual trail has now been opened for somewhere around two months!! Of course, for the first almost month of it being open, they were still working on finishing up things like planting new trees, cleaning up the mess they'd made, finishing up the little "rest" spots by adding benches, and just generally finishing up a big job. So, we could only go on the trail on the days we didn't see a lot of workers on it (due to the fact that when they back up with their little backhoes, etc., they make a high pitched beeping sound that Brownie does not like and anytime she heard it, it was straight back to our vehicle as fast as she could pull me/I could walk).

I didn't realize until now how starved I'd been for beauty. I guess to truly be well, I need beauty. I'd just taken a (figurative) breath and held it in for almost the year it took for them to finish and I'm slowly letting it out and realizing how much I need beauty to be truly happy. I knew I liked nature, but didn't realize I really craved the beauty of it until I let out the breath and began taking pictures again. Hadn't really realized I stopped taking pictures (because I wasn't finding beauty), but truthfully, I don't have many pictures from the past year.

So, they finally get the trail all nice and cleaned up and looking good, then last weekend a tornado comes through and damaged a lot of trees, etc. (and homes) in our area. Our block was completely bypassed, but a half a block in either direction and there was damage. (I have to give the praise to God as he is the only one who can make a storm/tornado/damaging hail go completely around us and I am grateful.)

So, the workers are back to cleaning up and taking out the damaged trees and re-planting some new ones, etc. I don't know how long this will take them to get completely cleaned up as the ice storm from two years ago that did terrible damage to the trees in the same area took them almost a year to clean up. Shoot, I'm just waiting for them to come in and mow as the grass is really growing in and is close to getting out of control, but I don't know if they are going to before July 1st. I heard on the news that they had a budget shortfall and it affected the mowing. Their fiscal years ends June 30th, so maybe they can afford to mow it after July 1st????

Who knows with this crazy city. Above are the pictures of our newly remodeled trail with the new tornado damage. And an FYI: the mushrooms ARE back!!!!

My lovely hiatus

I had a rough start to the New Year--two weeks of a terrible upper respiratory infection in which I had to spend most of those nights on the couch because of all the coughing and nose blowing. That put me behind and I'm just now feeling like I'm catching up.

We are up to 91 sales in our Etsy store! We were really believing for 100 by the end of January, but don't think I could have done ANY shipping during those few weeks. It was also nice to have a break from the hectic pace we kept up in the Fall for all those shows. (I say all, but there were 3. Felt like 20.) The big sellers for the month of February have been sunglasses that I'm selling from my personal collection of 1980's sunglasses. In keeping with my theme for this year, I'm trying to lighten my load. I figured if they have been in a box for the last 20 years, they should probably go on to new homes and blessings on them as they go. Plus, some of them no longer fit on my head. What is up with that?

My grandma passed away two years ago today (and my grandfather almost a year ago this coming March 14). I took their deaths hard, although they had both lived long, beautiful lives and God was so gracious to us in their passings. Truthfully, between the shows and the loss, I just really didn't feel like sharing much. Not to mention that they closed the trail by the river Brownie and I walk on during the week and it is coming up on a year that we haven't been able to walk there. They have recently opened it back up, but it is still in stages of renovation. I have no idea if all those beautiful mushrooms will be back or not, not to mention the wonderful wild flowers. I was kind of grieving the loss of our regular walking space as well and I haven't taken as many pictures of nature as I normally would have since the place we have to walk now doesn't really have any mushrooms or flowers. Mainly just geese, pigeons, seagulls (yes, seagulls in land-locked Oklahoma), and ducks. I haven't shown you those, either, as my camera doesn't have a good enough zoom for you to get a good look. Plus, they'd be moving and I'm better with semi-still targets.

I'd like to keep you updated more regularly, but only time will tell if I'm able to or not. Plus, I don't like to get to a place where I feel like I HAVE to do something over wanting to do something. And I like giving you beautiful nature shots to brighten your day, but I don't have a beautiful view quite yet. Maybe you (and I) will just have to settle for what I do have: a beautiful dog, handmade art and crafts, and some long distance shots of what may/may not be geese, pigeons, seagulls, or ducks.

What is going on with me?

I have been so absent from here for MONTHS. It did start with the computer and it continued with how busy we were for the three shows we did this fall. My sister and I both felt like we were working from behind. I still kind of feel that way. Our first two shows were successful and the last one wasn't very successful. What we learned this Fall was we shouldn't do any shows into November. I think we'll probably stick with the two successful shows we've got going on.

Our Etsy store has also continued to increase! We are up to 80 sales and are believing for 100 sales by January 28th which is the date we had our very first sale (a set of magnets my sister made). I really enjoy having the store and having a place to sell whatever I decide to make.

Well, I thought I could do a longer post to let you know I may be back (more so after Christmas probably), but I'm now due to go for a walk in this 19 degree weather. Thank God it is sunny!!

Bear with me peeps!

We've been having computer problems the past few weeks. Our main computer (which the laptop goes through to print, etc.) is operating at full capacity and it is time for us to get a new one. In the meantime, the laptop did not have a program on it to download or open pictures! We've never had the need for it to, so.... You may not be seeing any pictures with my updates until we can get this ironed out.

Also in the meantime, sales have picked up in our Etsy store (we are up to 35 sales!) and orders from people locally. We've really been working hard to get everything done AND make new product to put in our store. This is a good thing, but means other things might go by the wayside for a bit until we're able to get back to them. Between the computer and selling our wares, I'm doing all I can right now. But never fear, you are not forgotten!

FYI--our Santa Fe is now fixed from the hail damage it sustained upon return from our vacation to New Mexico (freak hailstorm with everything from pea size hail to baseball size hail--yikes) and our neighbors got a new air-conditioner! Yeah to both!!

Musky cologne, dramatic movies, and why I haven't blogged sooner

I'm sitting outside on my patio on a blanket, finally enjoying some cooler weather as night is falling and the crickets are singing. I was laying down and watching the clouds drift by when I smelled it again and I knew I needed to share this moment. It's actually wafting from our neighbor's open window, if you can believe it. That's how strong it is. It's hard to enjoy the smell of the night with this reaching out for me and embracing my nostrils. It's the smell of a man's musky cologne. Now I'm not one to tell someone how much cologne they should or should not use, but I question if this may be a little much if I'm outside their house and am a good fifteen feet away from the open window. We are separated by a screen and a picket fence. If it were actually a good smelling cologne, I probably would enjoy it. This one's just simply a bit too musky for me. Let me try to put my finger, er nose, to the undernotes and see if I can give you anything else to go on besides musky. Give me a minute. Maybe some berganot? Some rotten sandalwood? It may actually smell pleasant if it just weren't so strong. And maybe either of those shouldn't be mixed with musk. Then I want to question what type of musk. Muskrat? Musky doe? Musk of ox? Not sure.

I suppose I may also owe you an explanation for my month and a half absence from blogging. It was kind of a combination of things for me starting with the fact that the pleasure of doing was almost overriden by my obsessive need to post almost daily. While that is something I'd like to do, it can get to be a burden rather than a blessing and then it's time to stop for a bit and return. I was also having to take care of a lot of housework I'd put off to get my Etsy store up and running (20 sales so far!!) and I spent a lot of time cleaning it and getting ready to go on our family vacation to New Mexico for my parent's 40th anniversary (lots of fun, although tiring as I seemed to always be getting up much earlier than you should get up on vacation) (would like to share it with you, but I also have lots of other things that happened in between to share as well, but it will probably just have to be when I get around to it as I'm not going to push myself and am going to keep my house a bit cleaner and work on some paintings). I was also a little sad and was still dealing with the death of not only my grandad, but my grandma from a year ago. It's hard to lose two so close together, really three within a four year period and to go from having four to having one. I'm slowly adjusting.

There you have it. Thankfully, the cologne smell has slowly abated and now I'm hearing whatever dramatic movie he is watching (can tell it's dramatic from the way the music soars, then crescendos). I just hope it isn't Titanic as I can only watch/listen to that movie so many times because 1) it always ends the same and 2) I'm slightly claustrophobic and when the ship fills up with water it gets a bit hard to breathe and I have to remind myself I'm not underwater with them. One might wish he'd just close the window, but he can't as either their air-conditioner is broken and/or they can't afford to run it. He HAS to have the window open and I sure don't begrudge him whatever air he can get, especially when the temperature has been steadily in the upper 90's and 100's. So keep the musky cologne wafting and the dramatic movies playing!