Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 31

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 31 - Celebrate!

Well, this is it.  The last day of the month long blog challenge and the last day of 2013.  What do I want to celebrate?  That I posted all month long (only missing 2 days).  I stuck to my goal and while I missed 2 days, I think it is okay.  I followed through on my plan and completed the challenge.  I can't tell you how important that is to me.

I'd like to thank the wonderful participants in this challenge.  It was nice to meet some new people.  And a huge thanks to Jamie and Shannon who created this little challenge and were able to keep it going despite losing their internet connection during an ice storm.

This has been fun and it has made me remember why I liked blogging.  So, bring on 2014.  There is a lot I want to accomplish in this coming year and I hope to be able to get through it with the fun and patience that I did this blog challenge.  

Here is to a wonderfully magical, creative, inspiring, fun filled 2014!!

blessings
~*~ 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 30

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 30 - Recipes

Today we are asked to share on of our favorite recipes.  I'm going to share one that I only have once a year (at Christmas).  It isn't my recipe so I'll just share a link.  

I saw this on an episode of Tyler's Ultimate several years ago and it looked so good that we ended up trying it for Christmas one year instead of having our usual Turkey and Ham.  It is soooo delicious!

Horseradish and Garlic Prime Rib

(we don't use the wild mushroom part of the recipe.  we have a different mushroom recipe we use.)

Okay, now I'm hungry.  ;-)

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 29

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 29 - Sunday Selfie - Future You

Now that we've shared our wee little selves and ourselves at the beginning of this month we are asked to share who we will become.

This is a hard one.  How to share a selfie of who I hope/want to be in the future.  Well, I guess I could photoshop an image of myself, but that just didn't seem right.  

                                                       (source unknown)

I hope to be a full fledged artist one day.  
 

                                   (source unknown)

And I hope to live in a country home, where I can relax and experience nature instead of traffic and noisey (nosey) neighbors.

Do you have an idea of who/what you want to be in the future? 

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 28

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 28 - One Sentence Saturday - Word for 2014

I think I've finally settled on my word for 2014 - health: the state of being free from illness or injury. 

Yes, please. 

blessings
~*~


 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 27

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

 Day 27 - Final Friday

It's the last Friday of 2013 and Jamie and Shannon have asked us to answer a couple of questions.

1. What will you remember about 2013?
    Honestly, I don't know.  I suppose I'll remember it as a year filled with illness.  But that is the same as the last several years so it doesn't really stand out.  Or maybe I'll remember it for making the decision to put the cottage up for sale - the year my health broke me.  

2. What are you ready to leave behind?
    I would very much like to leave behind my ill health.  I wish it was that easy.

3. What is something you learned in 2013?
    I learned that there is a limit to what a body can take.

4. What would you like to celebrate about this past year?
    That I survived it.

I wish I could have had more cheerful answers.  I spent all day thinking about these questions in an effort to find something good to share.  Oh well.
Here is to a better year in 2014.

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 26

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 26 - 10 things in my fridge

I would have taken a picture - but my fridge really needs a good cleaning.  ;-)

Instead, I have a list:

1 half gallon of whole organic milk
1 quart of apple cider
1/2 hunk of parmesean
2 dozen organic free range local raised eggs
1 5 lb bag of organic carrots (for juicing)
1 lb of ground beef
1 package of bacon
4 20oz pepsi bottles
1 small jar of homemade peach jam
2 anjou pears

What's in your fridge?

blessings
~*~


 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 25

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 25 - Holiday Traditions

Today we are asked to share a holiday tradition.  Growing up we had quite a few traditions.  Every year we would celebrate Christmas Eve with my Dad's family.  We would all gather at my Grandparents for a meal and gift exchange.  After the festivities my Mum, Dad and I would get in the car and drive four hours to my Mum's family home.  I would lie in the back curled up in my yellow Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy sleeping bag and we would listen to the radio play holiday music and Santa progress updates from NORAD.

These days it's really just my Mum, brother, sister-in-law and I.  We have taken to having our visit on Christmas Eve with yummy h'orderves and gift exchanges.  This year we had our dinner on Christmas Eve instead of snacks.  

I wish you all a wonderful day!
blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 24

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 24 - Holiday Disasters

Today we're asked to share a holiday disaster.  I've been thinking about it all day and I really couldn't think of anything, until I started to type this post. Then I remembered something that happened not once, but twice.  And while it isn't really what I would call a disaster, it was quite disappointing to me.

I'm a very particular cook when it comes to feeding others.  I am very careful to keep everything clean and to go through recipes piece by piece.  Several years ago, I volunteered to make the dessert for holiday dinner.  I had found a cookbook that had old fashioned pioneer recipes and wanted to try a recipe for a Snowy Mountain Cake.

It was the first time I'd made a cake from scratch, all other cakes I'd made had used a box mix as a starter.  I remember being so very proud of getting the cake to rise like it should and having the finished product be so pretty.  (This was before photos were taken of everything!)  We went to dinner and I presented the cake for dessert.  Everyone had a slice and then we started to eat.  I think it was my Dad who spit his bite out first, but we all ended up gagging and spitting out our bites.  I'd left out the baking powder.  The cake tasted horrible and our lab who would eat soap, aluminum foil and cat poo (in addition to everything else she could get her mouth around) wouldn't eat it.  

I think I cried when I got home.  I was so upset and embarrassed!

After crying it out, I decided I would try again.  I wasn't going to let one mistake keep me from making this cake.  Do the next holiday I made another one.  Guess what?  This time I left out the baking soda.  Yes, another failure!  I couldn't even wait until I got home to cry about that one.

Sadly, I have never attempted this cake again.  I have wanted to because I don't want to have failed completely.  Maybe some day I'll make it and be able to get it right.  :-)

Happy Holidays!
Hope Santa brings you something good!
blessings
~*~

 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 23

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 23 - Books we love

I'm all about books.  Having a chronic illness keeps me from being very active and so most of my time is spent reading.  I love movies but I have to be careful cause of the noise.  I can't take loud sounds, so reading lets me get into these wonderful stories which takes me out of my pain a bit.

I read mostly fiction.  Sometimes I can get into a non-fiction but rarely.  It's hard to pick out what books to share.  I read fantasy, historical romance and lately contemporary romance.  I like mysteries and thrillers.  

Some of my favorite authors are Anne Rice, Nora Roberts, Sarah Addison Allen, Julie Garwood, Diana Gabaldon, Monica McCarty, JK Rowling.  I like Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott.  Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver. 

Really, there are just too many to name.  I've started keeping a list of the books that I read and I also have a list of the books that I want to read.  It is overwhelming sometimes, how many books out there need to be read by me.  :-)

I'm not feeling well today so this isn't a very good post.  Hopefully tomorrow's will be better.

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 22

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 22 - Wee Me

Little old me back in the day...

I think I was three when this photo was taken.  It's my favorite photo of me as a child. :-)

blessings
~*~
 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 21

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 21 - Favorite Quote

I have two:

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." ~ Joseph Campbell

 "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all." ~ Emily Dickinson

Happy Winter Solstice, my friends!

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 20

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 20 - Firsts

Today is a list of firsts...

My first job - ice cream scooper at Baskin-Robbins.  I hated the uniform - but ice cream.. oh my!

The first thing to my left - my cat, Lyli.

Something I remember about First Grade - my teacher's name, Mrs. Mahaffey.

The first book I ever read - I have no idea, I can barely remember what I read yesterday much less forty years ago, but I know one of my favorites as a child was The Giving Tree.

The first thing I do in the morning - check my blood sugar.

The first food I knew I didn't like - again...stretching my memory - greens?

My first memory - my very elderly friend that used to tell me stories when I was alone.


Sheesh, that was hard.  I used to have a good memory but my illness has taken its toll.

Happy Winter Solstice eve!

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 19

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 19 - 10 Things In My Bag

What's 10 things are in my bag? 

This is just one of my many bags.  I admit it, I'm a bag whore.  Some people go for shoes, some for clothes.  But me, I'm a book and bag whore.  This is my current favorite bag.  I'm always looking for just the right one.  I still haven't found it, but I'll keep looking.  :-)

These 10 items are always in my bag.  

My new wristlet (I got it in the mountains in November and love having a small little thing to carry into stores with me when I shop instead of my large purse.)  
Behind that is my fabric pencil case.  Inside it I keep those thin sticky notes for marking pages, lots of pens and pencils, lip gloss, eyeliner and glucose tabs.  
The black bag on top of the stack is my glucose meter.  I have to take it with me everywhere. 
Below that is my tarot cards in a pink fairie bag.  
A note pad for taking notes/making lists.
My new 2014 weekly planner.*
2013 weekly planner.*
Sketch pad.
In front we have a little bottle of hand sanitizer cause you just never know.
And last but not least a little compact mirror.

There you have it.  10 things in my bag.  

What do you carry with you that you can't live without?

blessings
~*~ 

*No, I don't keep two planners in my bag all year, but this time of year I have to keep the old one so I know where I'm going and the new one for planning appointments for the coming year.  :-)

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 18

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 18 - Wishing

Today we are prompted to make a wish.  And to support each others wish with the following words: "As you wish for yourself, so I wish for you also."

I wish all the time.  I think I make wishes every day, several times a day.  A lot of time I don't even realize I'm doing it.  It can be something small (oh I wish I hadn't had that second slice of pizza) to something big (I wish I'd win the lottery).  Wishing is as natural as breathing to me.  But I think I take it for granted a lot.  I need to be more cautious with my wishes.  After all, we must be careful what we wish for (or in my case careful what we witch for).   

So today, I wish for peace.  Peace in my head, peace in my home, peace in my spirit, peace in my soul, peace in the world and peace for you.

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 16

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 16 - Favorite Songs

Woah, boy!  This is impossible.  I love music.  Music let's me recognize and acknowledge my feelings when I can't find my own words.  I have more songs in my playlist than I could listen to in a day probably.

I like all kinds of music.  Except for bluegrass, I don't know why but I don't like bluegrass.

Since I have no idea how to pick a favorite or even a few favorite songs, I'll share some that I'm listening to lately.  

Some of my favorite bands/artists:  Eminem, Florence & The Machine, Adele, Duran Duran, Adam & The Ants, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, John Williams Orchestra, Evanescence, Kate Bush, Marilyn Manson, Tori Amos, Fleetwood Mac, just too many to list!

So here are some of the songs that I've been listening to lately and some that I listen to a lot (in no particular order):

Maroon 5 - One More Night  (love Adam!)

Rhianna - What Now (don't really like the video, but the words just really speak for me right now)

MGK - Invincible (love this)

Florence & The Machine - Heavy In Your Arms (I don't think I've heard a song by them that I don't like)

Miley Cyrus - Jolene: The Backyard Sessions (Ok - I'm not a fan of this girl.  She can sing - no question, but I really think she is just gone too crazy with this whole fame thing.  That said, this song is amazing.)

I'm gonna stop there, because I could seriously do this all night. 

What are some of your favorite songs?  

blessings
~*~


ok just one more!  this is the best Grammy performance ever!!

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 15

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 15 - Who Do You Love?

  This is Lyli aka lylibelle.  She is my last remaining furbaby - saved from a rental property where the renter was going to let her dogs kill her (she was just a tiny kitten).  I took her with the intention of finding her a home.  Well, I did...MINE!  She never left and keeps me company after all the others have passed.  She turned 14 this year.

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 14

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 14 - One Sentence Saturday - from a book

Today we are asked to share one sentence from a book.  Not just any book and not just any sentence.  We are to go to our bookshelf, pick the third book in from the top shelf and share the first sentence.

Easy peasy you would think, except I have six book shelves!  Hard to decide which book shelf to use.  I opted for the one closest to me at the time.

 
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." 

From: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 13

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 13 - Share a First

Today we are encouraged to share one of our firsts.  A first car, first day of school, first job, etc.  I've been thinking about this for a few hours now trying to decide what would be an interesting first to share.

For my share a first today I'm going to share my first art retreat.  I wrote a little about it here after I returned home last year.  But I'll share more now.  

In February of 2012 I signed up for my first art retreat.  I was really nervous as I'd never been on a retreat before and my "art" was minimal at best.  In October of 2012 I went to the Blue Mountain Retreat Center in Knoxville, Maryland to attend the first Red Thread Retreat.  Being quite a shy person, meeting new people and going to places I've never been is a bit much for me and I tend to not do it.

But I will never, ever be sorry that I went on this trip.  I met so many wonderful ladies.  It was so wonderful to experiment with different forms of art making.  

An 8 hour drive was spent holding up the camera with one hand and just snapping pictures.  It was fun to see what came out and I was surprised by how many pictures were pretty good.

Despite all the fun, we had to end the retreat a little early due to Superstorm Sandy.  I couldn't head back home as I'd planned to spend a day visiting a couple of nearby towns and also had an appointment with a tattoo artist.  

So I headed out looking for a place to spend the night.  I ended up in a hotel in Hagerstown for three days while the storm raged through, while I watched the coverage on tv, painted my nails over and over and occasionally played on the computer.

Finally on Wednesday, October 31st, it was time to make my appointment and head home.  I left the hotel with a few hours to spare.  I drove to Boonesboro where I was getting my tattoo.  I chose Boonesboro because I'm a fan of author Nora Roberts.  It was really neat to see a town she'd written about in her books.  I found the shop and still had lots of time to kill so headed off to Antietam which was just a little ways down the road.  I walked around some of the battlefield, listening to the rain and the spirits that wander there.  It was an interesting place to be on the day when the veil is thinnest.  I could hear the sounds of rifles and cannons, the groans of the wounded.  A very intense experience that was heightened by the weather.  I really hope to get back there again someday and take a tour.

 

 (Robert E. Lee statue at Antietam Battlefield.)


Anywho, off I went to my appointment and after four hours left with a permanent reminder of my experiences.

The skeleton keys represent the connection to the spirit world and for Papa Legba, the color purple in the eyes of the keys is for Maman Bridgete.  The red "thread" represents the retreat and my stepping outside my comfort zone to open up to new experiences.  This was my second tattoo and I have many more that I'd like to get.  :-)

I hope you have enjoyed my little story of my first art retreat.  It was a wonderful experience that I am so happy to have had the courage to do.  I also hope to be able to experience another at some time.

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 12

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 12 - 10 things I know for sure...

1 - I will always be grateful for the fur-babies i had/have.

2 - I will try very hard to never take my gifts for granted again.

3 - Gardening will always soothe me.

4 - I'll never stop believing in love and hoping that it finds me.

5 - Sometimes you just have to let it go.

6 - Each moment should be cherished.

7 - Things are rarely what they seem at first sight.

8 - Magic happens.

9 - I have to keep trying no matter how much I feel like giving up.

10 - Things can always get better.

blessings
~*~

 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 11

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 11 - What makes you weepy?

This one is easy for me.  Everything makes me weepy.  I cry at TV shows, at movies, books, commercials, news stories (good or bad).  I cry when I think of my grandparents or my baby brother that I never really new (stillborn).  I cry when I think of all that I wanted to do with my life and haven't accomplished.  Really, I never know when I'm going to tear up.  It can be frustrating.  But a lot of the crying I do nowadays is from my chronic pain.  I've become very good at putting on a fake smile and acting like I'm fine.  But I always come home, crawl in bed and cry for a while.

Yesterday's show and tell had me going through all my old (digital) photos in a search for something as a topic.  One of the photos I came across ended up making me cry.  I almost used it but decided that I needed to use something more happy.  So today it seems so appropriate for the prompt to have to do with tears.

This is the last photo I took of my baby boy, Dylan.  I spent that morning knowing what was coming and I just couldn't stop holding him.  I took this photo (and several others) the morning he passed.  It's been over 3 years since and it feels like yesterday.  He was my constant companion for almost 13 years and being diabetic for more than half that my life rotated around his.  I would come home on breaks and check on him, he had a special diet and required insulin shots at specific times. 

He was a wild child.  One of those labs that chew on everything and never really grow out of the puppy stage.  Where ever I was, he had to be there too and I was always warm when he was with me because he had to be plastered to my side.  I miss him so much.

Well, now you know what makes me weepy.

I'm off to find out what makes the other KIOS participants weepy.  (and to get a kleenex)

So tell me, what makes you weepy?

blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 10

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 10 - Show & Tell

This was so hard for me for some reason.  I had no idea what to share.  So, I decided to go with something from a couple years ago.

I love snow.  Right now I'm wishing my yard looked like this again.  To me, if it is going to be really cold, it should snow.  

Hope you are having a great day!
blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 9

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.


 Day 9 - Favorite Movies

Today we are asked to share our favorite movies.  Oh my gosh - where do I start?  I don't think I have enough time to type all those up!  I LOVE movies.  Just love them!  I don't have a particular genre that I love, I love all kinds of movies.  I feel about movies the way I feel about books.  I love falling into a good book or movie and getting swept away.  I love being in that reality for a while.

This is just a small representation of movies that I love.  I love all the Harry Potters, Practical Magic is a given!  The Batman series with Christian Bale is the best ever (although I love Michael Keaton!)  Speaking of Michael Keaton - Beetleguise!  Sleepless in Seatle, Pride & Prejudice, The Ring, both the Chris Hemsworth Thor movies.  I liked the older Star Trek movies, my fav being Wrath of Khan but I love the new Star Trek with Chris Pine.  The original Star Wars Trilogy - didn't like the second trilogy so much.  The Truth about Cats & Dogs, A Time to Kill, Miss Congeniality, The Witches of Eastwick, What Lies Beneath, The Bourne Trilogy, Ransom, Letters to Juliet, Let Me In, Easy A, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink...

Honestly, I could go on all day!  I used to work in a video store and would stock up on all the movies that I liked.  I don't really buy videos much anymore.  Now I just rent them from the library.  If it is something I know I want to see over and over, I'll buy it or ask for it for xmas or birthday.

I have a large collection of DVD and VHS tapes.  I have no idea what I'll do with all my VHS tapes when I can't get a VHS player anymore.  

Hmm... now I need to re-watch a couple of these.  Maybe Skeleton Key (FABULOUS!) but I'll need to watch the ones from the library first - The Conjuring, On Frozen Ground and the first season of Hannibal.

Have a wonderful day!
blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 8

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 8 - Where I am when I blog...

Today we've been asked to share where we are when we blog.  I have two areas that I work from when I blog so I'll show you both.

This is my desk in my studio.  The white part back beside the lamp is where my laptop goes when I work in there.  The desk is an antique that my brother found when he was doing house restorations.  It is a big old farmhouse type table that is put together with wooden "nails".  I love this table.  I use one corner as my desk and the rest as my work table for creating.

 

And this is where I blog from most of the time.  My corner of the sofa in front of the TV.  (Especially when a football or basketball game is on!)  I have a pillow that I put in my lap and then set my laptop on the "lap desk" that my Grandfather made over 30 years ago.  Back then we used it to write letters, or play solitaire (with real cards!).  Now I mostly use it to work on my laptop.  Every time I pick it up I think of my Grandfather.  He's in the photo hanging on the wall at the right corner of the entertainment center.  It's one of his football photos from college.  

So now you know where to find me when I'm blogging or just surfing. 

I'm cuddle up on the sofa now with my Grandmother's old bedspread.  I'm watching the Steelers game.  It's a messy day out.  The temps dropped to the low 30's and we have had rain and freezing rain.  It definitely looks like winter out there.

I'm off to finish watching the game.  Gotta cheer my boys on!
blessings
~*~

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 7

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 7 - One Sentence Saturday - Your Day

Today our prompt is to capture the day in one sentence.  Hmmm...

Today is almost over.

:-)

blessings
~*~


ps... I wasn't able to make it to the computer yesterday thanks to my head.  I don't have the energy to try to do a post for yesterday too, so I'm just going to skip it.  Hopefully that will be the only day I miss.  :-/ 

Kickin' It Old Skool - Day 5

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day 5 - 10 Things about Me!

1 - I love to garden.  Flowers, vegetable, herbs - I love having my hands in the dirt and watching the things I plant grow.

2 - I have an invisible chronic illness.  Two actually - I'm a Type 2 Diabetic and I have severe chronic headaches.  I have not had a single moment without pain in almost 8 years.  I've been through every test and medicine and have found no cause nor any relief.  

3 - I love to cook and bake.  Mostly bake as I'm completely addicted to sugar and am always craving something sweet.  Beginning January 1st I'm going gluten and sugar free.  I tried gluten free for 3 months last year, but it didn't help my headaches.  But I want to try again, not just for my headaches but for the rest of my health as well.

4 - I am a Witch.  I am not Wiccan.  I consider myself to be an old fashioned witch.  I've studied lots of paths and have found many that have pieces that fit for me but no one path had all the answers I was seeking or even felt right.  So I guess it would be best to say I'm an eclectic Witch.  I respect all faiths and respect people's right to believe what they want.  My philosophy is that if it works for you - I'm happy for you.

5 - When I was a child, I wanted to grow up to be a cross between my paternal Grandmother and Olivia Walton.  A big old farmhouse in the country with a husband and a dozen children was all I dreamed of having as an adult.  I have never married.  I was engaged once but it didn't last.  Also, I have never had children (except for the furry 4-legged variety).

6 -When I was 35 I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.  Because the kind I had did not respond to Chemo or Radiation, I had to have a complete hysterectomy.  At the end of January, I will have been cancer free for 9 years.

7 - I am a medium.  That's right.  I see dead people.  I actually see not just dead people, but other entities as well.  I not just see them but hear, sense, feel.  I've had this gift since I was a small child.  I did lose it for a couple years recently as I had never made peace with it and did not respect it.  But it came back about a year or so ago.  I work very hard not to take it for granted and not to disrespect this gift.  I'm also an empath.

8 - I read tarot.  I used to read professionally, but I gave it up when I saw a clients death and couldn't express to her the danger she could be in.  I have started reading for people again, family and friends or friends of friends.  I hope to read professionally again someday.  I am also a root worker or conjure doctor.  I've even been certified!  :-)

9 - I really miss my dog.  I had a black lab for almost 13 years.  He would have been 16 now.  He was diabetic and required lots of special care.  But I took very good care of him.  He was my baby - all 90 lbs of him.  I keep thinking I want another dog, but then I realize how hard a time I'm having just keeping myself and my cat going that I feel like it wouldn't be fair to bring a dog into my home when I can't give them all they need.  But some day, I hope to have another.

10 - I'm a family history buff.  Well, I am sometimes.  Before the cancer, I was a very into my family history and finding out where I came from.  After that I realized I would have no one to pass it on to and I gave it up.  In the last couple years I've slowly started to pick it up again.  


Wow, I thought this would be harder than it was.  I didn't even use all the things I'd first thought I would!  :-)  

Tell me something about you!
blessings
~*~

 

Kickin It Old Skool - Day 4

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.


Day 4 - Weather Wednesday

Today dawned overcast and very foggy (or froggy as I have always called it - I have no idea why!)  

I had wanted to take a photo of the fog and hadn't gotten around to it, so how thrilled was I when I found out today's prompt was Weather?  I always have a hard time getting just the shot I'm wanting from my backyard.  If I was smart I would put on some outside clothes and go down to the park that is just two blocks from my house and get some photos of the fog there.

More than likely, though I will stay in my jammies all day and piddle.  I have lots I need/want to work on - paintings in progress, mail to be sorted, bills to be paid and some conjure work for a new client.   I have some collards that I need to cook and a recipe for an apple cake that I want to try.  Hmmm, now that I look back I have a lot to do!  I'd best get busy.

What is your weather like today?
 
blessings
~*~ 

Kickin It Old Skool - Day Three

This month I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.

Day Three - Colors!

[ RED ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of red?    Santa
2. Closest red thing to you?   postal stamps with red hearts
3. What is the last thing that made you angry?   a phone call
4. Are you a fan of romance?  yes
5. Do you have a temper?  oh yeah...

[ GREEN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of green?  plants
2. Closest green thing to you?   highlighter
3. What's your favourite green environment?  nature
4. Are you jealous of anyone right now?  yes
5. Are you a lucky person?  not really

[ PURPLE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of purple?  New Orleans
2. Closest purple thing to you?  my earphones
3. Do you like being treated like royalty?  it would be nice to experience it once
4. Do you like mysterious things?  yes
5. Are you intuitive?  very

[ BLUE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of blue?  the sky
2. Closest blue thing to you?  bottle of acrylic paint
3. Are you good at calming people down?  i don't think so
4. What's your favourite body of water (i.e. lake, ocean, etc)?   the ocean in Cancun
5. What was the last thing that made you cry? the Kohl's commercial about the people decorating for their elderly neighbors apartment
6. Are you a logical thinker?  not at all

[ YELLOW ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of yellow?  the sun
2. Closest yellow thing to you?  my vacuum cleaner
3. What was one of the happiest times of your life?  the end of october a year ago at an art retreat
4. What's your favourite holiday?  halloween
5. What makes you happy?   puppies, babies, plants, books

[ PINK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of pink?  hearts
2. Closest pink thing to you? metal rose hanger on my wall
3. What sweet things do you like?  ice cream, candy
4. Are you sensitive?  very
5. What is your favourite flower? snapdragons
6. Do you have a crush on someone?  yeah

[ ORANGE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of orange?  halloween!
2. Closest orange thing to you? the cap on my elmer's glue bottle
3. Do you dress up for Halloween? most times
4. What gives you the warm fuzzies?  people expressing their love for each other
5. What would your superpower be?  to be ablt to freeze things (ala Piper in Charmed) and to be able to heal people

[ BROWN ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of brown?   trees
2. Closest brown thing to you?  my work table
3. What is your favourite type of chocolate?  ah...chocolate?  :-) 
4. What makes you feel grounded?   getting my fingers in dirt
5. Paint the wood or always leave it au naturel?   depends on how the piece looks

[ WHITE ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of white?  candles
2. Closest white thing to you?  keyboard
3. Do you always try to keep the peace?  most of the time
4. Do you like to play in the snow?  oh yes!!
5. Are you afraid of going to the doctors or dentist?  very much

[ BLACK ]

1. What's the first thing you think of when you think of black?  my dog (he died 3 years ago)
2. Closest black thing to you?  my mouse
3. Are you sophisticated or silly?  silly
4. Do you have a lot of secrets?   yes
5. What's the new black?  a smile

That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  But it was fun!
blessings
~*~

Day Two - Kickin It Old Skool

Day Two: Time Capsule

1. What are you reading? 

I'm reading a couple of things at the moment.  I just finished The Devil's Heart (book 3 in the Chattan Curse) by Cathy Maxwell.  I'm starting Healthier without Wheat by Stephen Wangen and have picked up a couple of cookbooks from the library with Gluten free recipes. 

2. What are you watching?

Right this moment I have a repeat of Castle on the TV.  This past weekend I watched the movie Immortals and really wished I'd not watched it.  Henry Cavil half naked through most of the movie couldn't save it.  :-(

3. What are you listening to?

The song What Now by Rhianna has been stuck in my head for a couple weeks now.  I tend to play it over and over.  Also, Royals by Lorde.

4. What are you loving?

Well, I guess right now I'd have to say it was the cheesecake I had the last bite of a little while ago.  It is a Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce.  So delicious!  And it was the first cheesecake I'd ever made!

5. What are you wearing?

My usual around the house clothes. Carolina blue thermal pants, a UNC t-shirt and my favorite hoodie that I bought 4 years ago in Nags Head.

6. What are you creating?

Right now, nothing.  But a couple weeks ago I made several SpiritWreaths.  And now that the moon is new I'll start working on another batch.

7. What are you looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio this week.  Also doing some research toward going gluten free with the start of the new year.  It seems very overwhelming but I'm hoping I can figure it out.

See you tomorrow!
blessings
~*~

Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge - Day 1

*I'm joining Jamie Ridler and Shannon Ridler in their Kickin It Old Skool Blog Challenge.  It's a month long challenge that will encourage us to post every day.  If you want to join in, click here or on the button on the left side bar.


Day One: De-Selfie

I'm not big on self portraits.  I'm not big on having my photo taken at all.  Heck, I don't even like looking in a mirror most of the time.  But here I am.  (This is a photo from 2010 - I basically look the same except my hair is a little lighter now.)

So when I went to the Kickin It Old Skool blog to see what today's prompt was, I was well, dismayed for a second to see I had to post a selfie.  Then I remember my challenge to myself from a week or so ago at Jamie's Creativity Coffee.  We were asked what risk we were going to take this month and my reply was to put my face out in the world more.  So... guess I can mark that off my list!  :-)

See you tomorrow with another Kickin It Old Skool post.
blessings
~*~

a few favorite things...

As I sit here typing I'm watching snow flakes fall outside of the studio window.  I've been out already twirling and soaking them in.  They are tiny (almost like mist) and then they become larger.  I posted a quick status about how excited I was to see snow on Facebook and my uncle commented that it won't last.  That right there, my friends, exemplifies my whole life.  Of course it won't last, it isn't meant to, but I can be excited that it is falling from the sky. Ugh!

Anywho...

Here are a few sights from my weekend just past.  Things that made me smile, grin or just sigh with happiness and joy.

 My Grandmother's Apple Pie.  I love this recipe.  I've never been able to get the crust to fit on just right (probably because I use the frozen kind).  But it is always delicious and just hits the spot on a cold day.

These guys.  Top to bottom: Faith, Snowball and Spirit.  I don't have words to describe what it was like being so close to them.  I haven't been near a horse in over 30 years and getting to visit with these three was just heaven.  Faith is skittish and didn't seem to like me too much.  Snowball was aloof.  But Spirit, oh Spirit was my friend.  He got so close he was practically hiding me.  I hadn't realized at first just how big he was (I was on the up slope of the hill).  But when he came up closer and raised his head to his full height.  Wow! 

He followed me around, letting me pet him, nudging me with his nose.  He just was so wonderful!  I hope next time I go I might get to ride him.  I was too nervous to do it even though my cousin offered.

Then there was this:

She was the biggest reason for the trip.  We went to Southwest Virginia to have Thanksgiving with my Cousin and her family and my Uncle.  This little nugget of preciousness is my cousin's newest daughter.  Oh my word!  The sweetest thing.  So worth the 6 hour trip.  And it was good to see my other young cousins and family.

Now this, I spotted through my back door while pie making the other day.  I hope my neighbors weren't looking out their back window as I'm sure they'd think I was being a peeping tom.  It took several tries to get a decent shot, although he sat there for the longest time.  I turned away for a second and he was gone as if he'd never been.

Sometimes I wish we didn't have televisions and movies, etc.  There are so many beautiful things to see in nature that we miss when focused on the other. 

Well, I'm off to get ready for a visit from my Sis-in-Law.  We are experimenting with a recipe for our Thanksgiving meal desert this afternoon. 

I hope those that celebrate have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends; and that those who don't celebrate Thanksgiving have a wonderful day. 

blessings
~*~