Artorama

http://www.artomat.org/ Later posts to reveal what I purchased from the mat... The ARTOMAT

Hey, nice shot of the low calorie bread in the photograph Marcella.... Next time, I'll edit out the bread on the counter.. Orchids have to be one of my favorite flowers. They stay alive a really long time and look good while displayed. Why would you want a silk plant if the real flowers last so long? Beats me. We have a rule in the house: NO fake flowers. These are part of a bouquet I got for my birthday. It was so big, I was able to put flowers all over the house. Of course I picked out the ones I really liked... But there is no such thing as an ugly flower. I like them all. Having worked in a flower shop I can tell you this: mums are great fillers.... Make up for less money.. This vase had NO mums. All high end,beautiful flowers. Flowers make such a statement. They can pick up a mood so easily.

Frank came home with this photo of a Jets football player. I don't watch football. I thought it sounded like a baseball player. I know it sounds awful, but I did not know Mexicans played football.

 

The strange things I pick up at Garage Sales... Mabel's is a real business and is still going. Yes, I googled it.

  Now, I've lost my voice. Nasty stuff deep in my resp. system. I just don't get sick like this. Off to the doctor's office again.

Oh goodie, a sky filled with shades of grey, a light dusting of snow and chilly temps. Is there an antidepressant for SAD? I don't think the light therapy works.... Unless you have an entire room filled with the light boxes and you sit in there for a long, long time. But since I don't have such a room, I really don't know. I do have a light box and it does not work for me. Glad the awful birthday is over and I can get on with living my life.

What if 365 days does not constitute a year of getting older? What if the actual measure of a year is 200 days? What if it is wrong and it is 410 days? If dog years are accelerated, so could human years. Another year older. It never really feels any different than the day before. Thank goodness it is almost over.

Frank and I saw Avatar in 3D today. It was an experience. Too bad other filmmakers don't want to produce stuff like this... I ate too much popcorn. I did not expect a stomach ache because I did not get the butter and I only had a small popcorn. Tomorrow is bound to be a better day as long as I don't have this stomachache

Here's a blurry photo of Gordo. His tail twitches when he sees the squirrels climb onto the window panes. It freaks him out, he can't snatch them through the glass.

Leave some treats out for your favorite squirrels tommorow and every day. Celebrate squirrels.

Keith LoBue shared this with his Precious little group. It is a pretty special quote: Among the mind's powers is one that comes of itself to many children and artists. It need not be lost, to the end of his days, by anyone who has ever had it. This is the power of taking delight in a thing, or rather in anything, everything, not as a means to some other end, but just because it is what it is, as the lover dotes on whatever may be the traits of the beloved object. A child in the full health of his mind will put his hand flat on the summer turf, feel it, and give a little shiver of private glee at the elastic firmness of the globe. He is not thinking how well it will do for some game or to feed sheep upon. That would be the way of the wooer whose mind runs on his mistresses money. The child's is sheer affection, the true ecstatic sense of the thing's inherent characteristics. No matter what the things may be, no matter what they are good or no good for, there they are,

  Astro came over for a visit last weekend. Here he is on my lap. Such a good boy. Sweet doggie. Just like his brother.

  Despite my husband's opinion I'm a good cook, sometimes things just don't turn out right. Take this recipe for banana bread: I tried to lighten the calories and used powdered egg whites instead of egg and egg whites and what happened was a gelatinous brick. Creepy. The little bacon pieces next to it are my dog's treats and the lime for Frank's Corona.

  Saw this on the shelf in the supermarket. They want $8.00 for tubed, pickled baloney. It was next to the picked hard boiled eggs, also $8.00.. Who buys this stuff?

  This guy is on the same property as the Indian with his hand up... Snappy shirt, eh?

Who says this is a fake snowman? And who says it is a man?

Meat loaf sandwich on sourdough bread with sliced avocados. 1 down and 4 avocados remain...

This little gal came in the mail today. She is so sweet. The artist is Nancy Wiedower from New Mexico. If you want to see it up close, just click on the image and you can see what she used to make up the doll. The first 2 photos are the card which came with the art. Cool.

Sometimes the squirrels get the best of you and end up eating the bird food. I mean, what are you supposed to do? They have to eat too.. Even thought I'm still not feeling well, I wanted to feed the animals. While I was feeding saltines to the goats, Duncan, (the horse who eats anything) was nudging over as if to say, "hey, give me some". So, I gave him a saltine to shut him up... thinking he would spit it out and make that teethy grin like horses do... Nope, he ate it and licked his lips. WAnted another one and another one. But they are not for him, so I continued feeding the goats and just ignored him. I did finish the treat fest with Bob's peppermint candies. They are tasty. Duncan would eat an entire bag if I let him... Buddy was enjoying the carrots and peppermints too. He's such a sweetie. As I left I kissed old Duncan just to piss him off.

I put out some old nuts and now the squirrels are looking for new nuts... This particular squirrel, who I'll call Fred is standing up trying to look bigger and scare off his friend who also wants some nuts. We are very sad about the devastation in Haiti. May all be rescued and healed quickly.

  Since I'm not cooking, a freshly made batch of tuna fish with baby lettuces, a side of baby carrots. A healthy alternative to Burger King or Culvers.

  I have fluid in my ear and a sore throat. Went to the doctor yesterday and he did not like the looks of things and prescribed antibiotics. My throat is so sore it hurts to swallow... He said I have an infection. As far as the other problems, well, another time.

Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me. Ambrose Bierce

Ever since we moved the birdfeeders away from the house,I don't see the birds as much as I used to. Today, I was happy to see the cardinal and his mate discovered the birdseed on the side of the barn and garage. They feed early and late in the day. Freezing cold outside. Me crafting inside.

On one of the last nights we were in the mountains, we went out to eat at the Clubhouse Restaurant... They had copper pipe as napkin holders.. I loved this... This is how Jane Wynn taught us to make bezels... Easy to do...

  The winter storm has begun! I have not heard a lot of snow plows and the people who plow our driveway have not shown up yet... maybe they want to move all of it at once? I'm not shoveling today. Hurt my shoulder and arms... I think it is nature's way of telling you your body is deteriorating, breaking down.. we were not meant to live forever and our bodies tell us this every day as we age. You have to get used to it, or you will go crazy.. There are meds for this, so suck it up. My mother in law Phyllis used to say" Getting old is not for Sissys". She was right.. about most things. We miss her. She was so full of life. Since her passing the family is not the same. I'm still in the art room cleaning up. Deciding what stays and what goes. Listening to Pepe and the Bottle Blondes' Late nIght Betty on the Ipod. Love Latin Music. As I sit here typing I'm watching the little birds jump from the branches of the trees to the bird feeders. They have to e

We are supposed to get 8 inches of snow tommorow. We now have someone to shovel our sidewalks when they do the driveway. I don't mind doing the walk, but it takes a toll on my shoulders and back after a while. Probably not the best exercise I can get. My neighbor said she has snowshoes I can borrow. I may take her up on it... or buy 2 pair so Frank and I can go walking in the back 40 for some exercise... Howie woke me up at 2:50 am to go outside. I'm not fond of those walks downstairs to take him out. I'm posting a photo of our makeshift weathervane... Hey, at least it is still standing.

This is what I want to remember about our trip to the mountains. Nature's beauty. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Why do people like to get High so much? It is awful being around people who are stoned or drunk or both.. What is wrong about being real? Is life so awful? So unbearable that an altered perspective is better than what is at hand? I get drunk pretty easy, so I have to watch how much I drink. Also, I hate throwing up. Getting nasty drunk brings on the vomit. I mean, who the fuck likes to throw up? Or better yet, clean up the throw up? Some people are mean drunks, happy drunks, silly drunks or loud obnoxious talkative drunks. People who get high are for the most part not mean... but they can get talkative and obnoxious and giddy and stupid. Mixed with booze and it is a disaster! Selfish and self centered idiots. What is wrong with us as a species that we have to drink or smoke pot or take drugs to go on with our lives? Also, what about the whole religion thing? Why are these right wingers such big pot heads and drunks? Are we so flawed that we have to believe in some greater bein

Got back today from Vail (Arrowhead) and Denver. It was not as cold in the mountains as it was when we arrived in Chicago. Need to adjust to being back in Central Time Zone. It was nice to see family and be with familiar faces. Too bad my sister and her husband don't live in Denver anymore. I did see "whatever Works"... the Woody Allen movie starring Larry David. I liked it. I am a fan of Woody Allen. I also saw the movie Star Wars for the 2nd time. Lots of discussion about the parallel universe afterwords. We had a spectacular meal at a new Resteraunt in Denver.. MIke Shannahan's steak and seafood place. Classy and excellent food and service. The alaskan halibut was really from Alaska... sweet and flavorful Frank is getting new wheels. Cool Beans. Sadly, Sandy's mother Myra passed away during our visit. She is being flown back to her home town. It is what she wanted.