A Blessing

Yes,

I'm a Blessing.

You're a blessing, too.

Together we meet

and 

become a blessing to each other.

through the kindness and gratitude

we bring to each other,

we learn

You are a blessing,

and 

I am, too.

Haiku 5-7-5: Night Snow

Night snow polished by moonlight.

An evening on which to slowly walk,

Lit by a full moon.

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) This beautiful meal of pasta and shrimp that was two meals for me.

Oh. My. Goodness!

It was worth every calorie.

2) Scheduling appointments and getting the days and times you want.

Even more:  remembering to schedule the appointments.

3) Snuggling with Pixie.  She doesn't like to snuggle.  She would rather be left alone!  Diva!

6 Words: What is Art?

Startling

Personal

Distinctive

Powerful
Statement
Expression



What are your six words for
What is Art?

Worth Repeating: What Are You Dreaming?

At first, it's just a quiet yelp,
then, a growl,
a bark, and
finally a roo!
Pixie is sleeping,
and
like a baby who smiles while cradled in it's mother's arms and sleeps through thunderstorms, smiling all the while,
I wonder,
What are you dreaming?

Art...It's Everywhere!

Believe it or not,

this is art.

See the smudges,

the dots?

I had to alter this photo to get them seen,

because they are hard to see in the light.

It's called

"Nose Art."

I know you've seen the videos of the elephant painting a picture on canvas and doing a great job!

There are also videos of the chimp or the orangutan drawing or painting a recognizable picture of something in their environment.

Nose art is more abstract.

Nose art is more unplanned than planned.

Nose art is born of curiosity rather than reason

And, this is the small artist who decorated this window.

Fred.

He always finds the one ray of sunshine.

He loves the windows.

That's why there is so much

Nose Art.

Do you see nose art in your home?

Who is your artist?

 

Memories of ice cube trays!

If you remember these, you're pretty old, like me.

When I was a kid, 

I don't remember seeing any other type of ice tray in the house.

This was way before the days of frostless freezers and ice makers built into the refrigerator.

I don't know why we had only these

Ice trays, but we did.

Talk about attachments to the past!

I saw these trays at a store yesterday, so,

I bought them.

My kids never had the experience of these ice trays,

but they will.

They're grown now,

so I wonder if this will slip into their memories?

Have you ever bought anything because it reminded you of when you were a kid?

 

Intense Love

God Gave Us Hair...

To teach us Humility,

At least,

for me,

He did.

Sigh!

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) The extremely cold weather finally broke.  We aren't as warm as Florida, but our highs are no longer below zero.

2) I've had a lot of time for making rosaries this week.  That's always good!

3) We are on the road to spring!

 

Today, I had an Interesting Experience

Attribution at the end of this post.

I'm neutral on the end result, but it was interesting.

Jenny and I spent 45 minutes in a 

"therapeutic salt room."

The room looked very similar to this one, except that there was only room for 6 chairs.

We didn't know anyone else,

so, in that way,

it was unique.

i did manage to get in a nap,

but I sure itched a lot in the process.

After you arrive, you are escorted into a room where you leave your purse, your jacket, etc, in a small locker.  You are not restricted from using an electrical device, but you are not encouraged to use one in there.

You are asked to take off your shoes and put on paper booties to wear into the room.

You are given a body sized blanket to use. 

Once inside the room, you are asked to find a chair.  I could feel the salt even before I went into the room.  My skin started to feel dry and itchy.  

The discomfort was minor.  Just itching on my face and arms and in my hair.

Someone came in and announced that she would get us started.  A fan started and she closed the door for 45 minutes.

I must have dozed because the time went by quickly.

I had a light coating of salt on my glasses at the end of the event.

I noticed one man had brought in a tablet.  I was glad I hadn't brought mine in because if my glasses were coated with salt, I can only assume my tablet would be, also.

I'm still re-hydrating.  I'm neutral on the therapeutic results of this time.

I don't think it hurt me, but I'm not sure it helped me, except that I took a power nap.

Would I do it again?  

I'm not sure.

Maybe with a really good Groupon I would.  

Otherwise, I'm neutral.

Photo attribution: Reise-Line

March 6, 2010

Worth Revisiting: Memories Found

I stopped when I opened the small, corked jar,

and

for one, brief second,

I stopped breathing.

More memories,

certainly 

unexpected.

Who would have thought that someone

at one time

placed these roses in that jar.

The fragrance was still there,

not strong, just a whisp of scent to remind me

of 

that Mother's Day,

that anniversary,

that birthday,

I'm not sure when, 

but the memories flooded back.

I'm just not sure which one.

Surprise!

Memories in a jar.

My favorite photo Prop, Hamster, the rubber elephant...

Do you see him in the background?

Those chunky legs belong to Hamster, the Rubber Elephant.

He is my favorite prop when I take pictures of my beads.  

I also use, and this is true,

a bag of rocks.

Yes, a bag of rocks I bought at the dollar store.

They work, but Hamster is still my favorite prop.

Other props I use are boxes that look like books.

I bought those at Michael's.

I also use sparkly boxes that are wrapped like presents.  

Once in a long while, I use a simple flower or pod.

It seems, though, I always come back to 

Hamster.

What's your favorite prop to use when you take pictures?

Do you ever photo bomb other people's pictures, accidentally or on purpose?

I'd love to hear from you!

10 Things you might or Night not Know about Me

1)  I have pink hair!  I've had pink hair for over 2 years now.  I love my hair being pink!

2) In my adult life I have owned and loved 4 dogs.

Oliver.  He was a basset hound.

Bailey:  He was my first greyhound.

Spike:  He was a dobbie

and

Pixie Marie.  Of course, she's a diva and a greyhound.

3) I worked for many, many years as a special ed teacher.

4) I make glass beads. polymer clay beads and sculptures.  I crochet.  I make rosaries and rosary bracelets.  On occasion, I paint.  I write.  I make jewelry.

5)  I am a Catholic.

6) I don't enjoy cooking, but I am a good cook!

7) My favorite prop to use, when I am taking pictures of my beads, is a rubber elephant named Hamster! Look for him in the background of my bead pictures.  You might only see a bit of gray or you might see all of him.  Just remember, his name is Hamster.

8) I have a good sense of humor.

9) I'm a fair weather athlete.  If it's cold, like right now (-18), unless I have to go outside, I don't.  I'll walk around the house or dance in the house, but I'm inside for the duration!

10) In the top ten of my favorite old TV series, "The West Wing" is the BEST!

All right, now you know some trivia about me, tell me something about you!

Laughter

We're Half Way Through January... 5 ways to survive the coldest month of the year...

February is just a corner turn away.

The weather will warm up, 

but until March,

at least here in Minnesota,

we begin to see more snow.

The question then becomes,

how do we survive this time of year,

when temperatures are the coldest

and the amount of light in the day is still reduced?

1) Be prepared.  Wear your boots, your heaviest coat, your hat, your gloves.  Keep a small survival kit in your car in case you head off into a ditch or slide into a snowbank.  

Preparedness is the key.

2) Keep your cell phone charged!n!

If you don't own one and you are traveling, I would strongly recommend that you purchase a phone with a limited number of hours so that you can have a phone available if you are stranded.

3) Hope!  Yes, I said hope.  If you keep track of the times that the sun rises and sets now, you will find that we have more light in our days.  Each day, the amount of light in our days increases from now until June.  

4) If you suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), use a full spectrum light lamp for about a half an hour each day.  This helps to control that problem.  The lights tend to be expensive, but, rather than slipping into the gloomies,

these full spectrum lights help to chase the gloomies away.

5) Socialize.  Even if it's cold get out of the house each day, if you can.  Meet with friends.  Take your children to the library.  Go to lunch.  If you like out door activities, do them!

Get as much vitamin D into your system as you can!

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) Today, the sun is shining, and it's warm!  It's 21 degrees above zero!

That is wonderful in January!

I'll take it!

2) I had lunch with Sister Alene, and we had a great time!  She's a beautiful 90 year old nun, and I'm proud that she is my friend!

3) Pixie is feeling better.  Her lumbar stenosis is under control now.

 

Beads, but this time, Fiber Beads!

I like them!

How about you?

I hope to post a tutorial in a week or so,

well, 

let's go with the 

or so.

In the meantime, they are easy to make,

and

you can probably figure them out.

So, add fiber beads to the

Love of...

Worth Repeating: Memories from the Basement

It was a two day event for Nick and me.  We attacked and cleaned the basement!!!!!

There was laughter.  There were tears.
There were some things we looked at and said, "Why did he keep this?"  There were other things we just said, "What is it?"

Nine garbage bags later.  10 bags full of things to the thrift store.  Then home for 6 more bags of garbage and 4 more bags for the thrift store.  Then it was done!

The tears came when we found things from their childhoods. Photos flooded our brains with memories. Memories of places. Visions of people we loved for too short of a time. 

Laughter came when we remembered why we kept the drawings, the photos, the journals, the paper clippings, and some of the things we found.

We wondered why somethings were still there after 40 years.  Why were they moved 20 years ago?  What meaning did they have then that they didn't have now?  Who were some of these people in the pictures?  Who was this baby in the picture?  Why did we have it?

Look at this!  It's my first communion veil!  What is this?  This is my bull fighting cape from when I took Spanish dancing as a teenager.  Look at these newspaper clippings.  Mom, is that you?  Why didn't you tell me you used to act in plays?  When did you do that?  How old were you?  Where'd did all these cups come from?  I don't know, but put them in the thrift shop bags.  (White bags were for the thrift store.  Black bags were the garbage.)

Now, what's left of the memories are organized in plastic bins.  Memories stored until someone else comes along and says, "What is this?"  "Where did it come from?"  "Why did she keep it?"
"Who was that?"  "Was she really an actress?"

Memories from the basement, but a basement that's cleaned!

Who says you can only list Beads in a store named Rosebud's Lampwork Beads?

Here's the listing for this scarf!

Click

HERE

At the moment of this writing,

I only have 

two items that are crocheted in my store, but I hope to be adding more very soon.

I'm going to add

crochet dishcloths,

nylon scrubbies,

and

gentle skin exfoliators.

Of course, 

I'll be adding more scarves, too.

So stay tuned.

If you're on Facebook, 

I just listed these beads in a new group called,

American Bead Caravan.

Click

HERE

to find the group.

See, I still love beads!

Monday, Where did I go Write? 12 journal prompts you can use.

Not everyone likes Mondays.

Even though I'm retired, 

I still find Mondays

hard to navigate.

However, if I can sit down

and 

write, even what I write is nonsense,

I feel better.

So,

let's start writing!

You don't have to have a blog to write.

You need a note card or a journal or a word processing program,

oh, right.

You also need something to write with on whichever material you choose.

Huh?

Pen and pencil.

Fingers and keyboard.

You get it.

Monday Morning Prompts

1) Write 5 words  that describe how you will feel at the end of the day.

2) Write 5 words that describe how you feel when you wake up.

3) How are you going to be kind to yourself today?

4) If you could go any place today, where would it be?  Describe your visit there.

5) If someone could walk into your life today and make your Monday better, anyone who is living today, who would it be and why?

6) Which of your skills will you use today?  Why? 

7) Start your Monday off right.  Describe yourself in one sentence.

8) Name 5 of your best qualities.

9) Name one thing you do well.  Why are you so good at this?

10) Name 3 reasons why Monday will be good for you, no matter what happens today.

11) Jot down 3 journal prompts for Mondays.

12) Describe your best Monday ever in 10 words!

I love my Do Hickey....

This is my Do Hickey.

Do you have one?

 I was perusing our local kitchen store,

and

there it was!

The teeny sign said,

"Get rid of garlic and onion smells on your hands."

All right,

this Do Hickey

was going to be mine.

I took it home and gave it a try,

and,

guess what?

It works! 

If your hands smell like garlic or onion,

 run some water, 

and use this like soap.

Rub it in and over your hands.

In a minute,

the smell is gone!

I love my 

Do Hickey!

What gadget do you have in your kitchen that you absolutely love?

(Disclaimer: I am not a spokes person for the company.  I don't even know what company makes these Do Hickeys, but if I did, I'd write them a letter and thank them!)

Three Beautiful Things This Week: When Llfe Hass Been a bit Overwhelming

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.

1) This morning I woke up to this beautiful scene!  It makes me smile.

 

2) I think I feel inspired, again, to write.

 

3) I'm  going thrift shopping today.

Worth Repeating: The Day I went Pink

It was Yesterday!

Today,

I'm pink!

Get the Attitude! Show Some Gratitude!

That's my word for the year!

GRATITUDE!

Studies show that people who live in a state of 

GRATITUDE

are happier people than those who 

aren't grateful.

This year,

I will practice

GRATITUDE

regularly,

especially with 

GRATITUDE

to my 

Creator.

GRATITUDE,

I whisper your name.

GRATITUDE!

 

Things That are happening in my Kitchen: a Tutorial on Roasting Garlic in the Microwave, Joke's on Me, Growing Basil, and Decluttering

Today, I had to go out and go to the grocery store. 

I had planned on making a pizza with a cauliflower crust.

I picked up the ingredients that included the fresh basil.

I have been sick, so I've been reading a lot and visiting sites such as Pinterest.

On one of the sites I visited, I saw a quick article about growing your own herbs in your kitchen.

The article said something to this effect,

"If you want to grow herbs in the kitchen, take the fresh herbs you buy at the grocery store, put them in fresh water.  In a couple of weeks, you will see roots beginning to grow."

All right, this is a work in progress.

I'll be showing updates.  I love basil, and I would love to have a steady flow of this herb.  As of today, there are no roots.

Now for the tutorial

In early December, I bought this little cooking dish at a craft show.  It was originally made for cooking eggs in the microwave.  It will only hold one egg, and the potter told me to only cook that egg for 50 seconds, not one second more.

You don't need this particular dish.  You can use any dish you like.

That's the first disclaimer in this tutorial.  There will be others.

Disclaimer #2 

If you don't watch the time on your microwave, this is what can happen.

Burnt garlic, and it stinks.

Now for the Tutorial

Step 1:  Spray non-stick spray on the inside of the dish.

Step 2:  With lid on, if you have a lid, microwave the dish on high for 2 minutes.

Step 3: Stir and cook again on high for 2 minutes.

Step 4:  Stir and cook on high for 1 minute.

Step 5:  Stir and cook on high for 30 seconds.

Let cool.

Disclaimer:  Ha! Ha!  Joke's on me.

I didn't realize I was dehydrating the garlic cloves, but that's exactly what happens.

It's still good, but you will need to grate it to use it.  

I like the taste.  It tastes like roasted garlic that's been dehydrated!

Last, but not least:

I joined a group on Facebook called

Declutter 365

The page publishes a monthly calendar with a chore to do each day.  The goal is to spend 15 minutes decluttering a single area of your home each day.  

Yesterday's chore was to clean the silverware drawer.

Here's what it looks like right now.

One of these days, I'll show you how it looks after I spend my 15 minutes cleaning it out.

 15 minutes might be enough to do this chore.  If not, I can afford a few more minutes.

So, for now,  talk to you later.

Things I'm Thinking About: For the Love of....

I'm thinking it might be time for a name change for this blog.

Do you have any suggestions?

Right now, 

all I'm thinking about is a shortened form of the name:

FOR THE LOVE OF...

Since I haven't been able to torch for the last couple of years,

I seem to have strayed away from writing more about beads.

Life has been chaos, 

and 

I've had to live away from my home for long periods of time, so

I have been forced to focus on other forms of art, not just handmade, lampwork glass beads.

This has been a blessing in disguise.

It's been rough, but what doesn't kill you...

So, I think I'd like to expand the focus of this blog a bit.

Beads will always be here.

The other thing I'm thinking about now is a nap.

This  virus, which has knocked me flat since two weeks after Thanksgiving, is still with me.

I'm tired. 

A nap sounds great right about now.

Talk to you later.

So, What Have I Been Doing Besides Being Sick? This That and the Other

THIS

Truthfully, not a lot.

I did get to go out to dinner one night, with friends.

The restaurant was a Mexican restaurant in town.  

The garlic was a decoration on the tree.

Isn't that a great garland for the tree?

It was a fun evening, but it was a slick evening since we had about 8 inches of snow fall earlier in the day.

I slipped and slid all the way home, but, thank God,

I made the trek home

SAFELY!

THAT 

  

 I felt a little bit better yesterday, so I thought I would roast some garlic.

Oooooops!

I cooked the garlic a little bit too long and
I.

BURNT.

THE.

GARLIC!

The house still smells of 

BURNT GARLIC.

There will be more about this in a future blog.

It was an experiment for the blog.

Yesterday, I went back to Pinterest.
(I really didn't leave.  I just couldn't remember my password.)
Found it!
I also checked one of my pins. 
I had saved a PIN about a a detoxifying bath.
I took it, and, guess what!
I didn't feel any different except that I felt much more relaxed.  It didn't help my cold, but I felt good enough to take a nap.  Sleep always helps!

That's it for now.
I have some ideas for this new year. 
I'll be talking about those ideas next week.
For now,
I'm going to take a nap.  See you later!