Mischievous Ole Elf

OK, its time for some Christmas humor. Most everybody loves Christmas decorations, except for the Grinch and Scrooge. Hope you are not one of those ass I have been blasting my love of decorations here since November. For those who may not know, I am healing from foot surgery and am currently not able to walk. I don’t sit well without something to do and as much as I love the Hallmark channel, there is only so much of that I can watch. So I pulled out the possible Christmas projects and wreaths to see what I and the glue gun could come up with. Also for those who may not know I also am a face painting clown – real clown – not circus clown but Christian clown using this medium to help spread cheer and the love of Christ. I explain all of this so you can understand my mental age is …12… on a good day. It will help you appreciate where I came from on this project. I saw the cutest thing on Pinterest with a small wreath and the letter J and Y – to make a JOY wreath. I painted the J red and the Y green and the O is a straw wreath. The I saw a small house like my village houses and thought I could make a cute scene inside the O.

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So the plan was going great until assembly time. That’s when the mischievous Elf show up. This is what he did to my JOY wreath. I call it now “The Elf of No Help” wreath.

IMG_20181203_203321 — Thanks for the help Elf.

Combined with the beauty of Christmas lights, we must never forget the laughter and JOY of the season. Sorry for my beat up door – Mimi is very protective.

As you spread the JOY of Christmas, remember the kindness a hug can bring. The gentleness of love and kindness during his season can brighten anyone’s day.

Do You Have a Favorite Ornament?

We have now crossed over to December so it is a perfect time to add more pictures of my over zealous indoor Christmas. I do hope it is not a total bore to you. Since I knew my surgery would prohibit me from decorating in December, I got to get ready by the second week of November. So I have been enjoying my 3 trees already along with my village and other Christmas cheer. I will display some that you may have seen and some new.

The first pic is my tree on the dining room table with my 40+ piece village beneath the tree. The second pic is the tree in my bedroom bump out window. Santa and Chris Moose had different opinions on how to hang lights on the tree. The last one is the tree in the living room. So you see I have lots of enjoyment surrounding me. Next week I may be walking(sort of) and I will get that small trees up in the kitchen and bathrooms – no room left unattended. But with all this decoration, is there a favorite? I dunno – maybe each tree has one, but not really. I do know some are favorites as they bring special memories to mind. For instance, my bedroom tree is the fun tree which holds my silly ornaments and ornaments my children made when they were young. Of those my favorite is the clothes pen angel my oldest made when he was 3. (He turned 40 this year) And of course this tree has all the S’more ornaments, over 30 of those. You can see the angel S’more behind Jimmy’s angel.

IMG_20181203_152848 — The first ornament placed on this tree

The other 2 trees are harder to find a favorite as they are all wonderful. Each year I try to find 1 or 2 special ornaments that are different or extra special. So I will give you a few samples from each of the other trees. The tree on the dining room table is all white, glass or silver.

The tree that is in the living room is the so-called formal tree but my idea of formal probably differs from other ideas of formality as I am a pretty laid back type person. Since I was an art major in college, some of that bleeds through on this tree.

As the month goes onward, I will also share my nativity scenes. Yes, there are more than one, not including all the nativity type ornaments hanging on the tree that represent the true reason for the season.

Even Santa knows that true love comes from the manger

In the gentle mindset of the holiday season remember the value of being kind. Even Charlie Brown understands the gift of kindness.

CB Christmas

If you have a favorite ornament or like sharing the Christmas decor from your house, do share. I so enjoy looking to see how others decorate. Have a marvelous week.

MA, a state or your mental age, #SoCS

Ma is generally thought of as a shortened name for the mother in the family as in mama. But there are other uses for ma as in gauging your mental age. According to this below, I am 12.

And of course the state of Massachusetts is abbreviated as Ma. And let us not forget the learned folks with a Master of Art, MA that goes with their title.

My favorite use though refers to the matriarch of the family which is usually the grandmother, normally referred to as grandma, as that is what I am, a grandma. Generally it is the first grandchild that sets the precedence of what the grandparents are called unless of course the grandparents have something to say about that or in the lucky marvelous situation with multiple grandparents still alive and being enjoyed.

In my siblings situation, my sister was the first to have children so my parents were chosen by the first grandchild to be called Ma and Pa as Grandma or Grandpa was too hard to get out, and the grand was dropped. Actually it was my father who was first named as my nephew was asked who that man was and he was certain that it was Pa. The standard was set for my parents.

When you get into the grandma names, the variation are amazing. Some off the top of my head that I have heard are:

grandma, granny, gamaw, memaw, mimi, and we cant leave out the formal grandmother.

It’s all fun stuff and movies depict these women from sweet ladies that have mastered the kitchen to power matriarchs that dare you to breathe.

As we go through this life remember we generally don’t get but one chance to show our inner love and peace as the Stream of Consciousness icon displays, so let’s embrace the peace and love of family and be that cookie baking and sweet loving grandma.

And in closing, I remind all the wonderful opportunity we have in sharing kindness. Express the kindness we envision with love towards all creatures and warm cookies from the oven only like grandma.

gram — Grandma surrounded by critters and kids with love and cookies

Fun in the Garden

I remember when in school I would always get in trouble from doodling on my notebook or the backs of my homework. Now, thanks to Linda G Hill, we have permission, plus there are now books for adult doodlers like me. The Escapist Coloring Book Club is fun seeing others that are doodlers or their children’s doodling work – future book club members.

Since I did have minor surgery( if any is really minor at all) I did have extra down time. Therefore, I had time to do an intricate one. Here is the before picture (I remembered to add that this time).

Oct1a — I liked the caterpillars and the beetles

Once I got it finished the creature that showed out the most was the rainbow bee in the upper center.

Come along and join in on the fun. Its a fun way to relax and share fun with others. Click on Linda’s Escapist Coloring prompt above and show you colors.

And as always “Tis the season to be merry. So be merry by being kind. A tiny spark of everyday kindness can light a fire in the meekest or loneliest heart. Then that fire of kindness can spread to others in love. Always be Kind.

heart of kindness

November Thankful Challenge, Last Days

What a wonderful month this has been as I have shared on a few of the many many things I am thankful for during the month. It is important that we tie in thankfulness and gratitude for our many blessings like waking up today, being able to read this post, having friends we share with over the internet that are across the world. It is all so fascinating how very close we can be with a simple reach out. This month brought the (hopefully) final surgery on my feet. I have great hopes for being able to go walking in the spring and share the many beautiful things I see. But for now, we are healing and enjoying some down time with my fur baby who currently can not get close enough on the sofa while I try to type this message.

So lets finish up that challenge list but always remember daily the many blessing we are given from family, friends, life and God.

Nov 26 – I am so very thankful for my daughter who has been taking care of me why I recover. With all the snow we got over the weekend, she shoveled the driveway(with snow plow) but still…and she cleared off the sidewalks in the front.

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Nov 27 – I am thankful for the ability and understanding of the importance of helping others.

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Nov 28 – I am thankful that I can laugh and joke about myself as I age. Laughter is a strong medicine.

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Nov 29 – I am thankful for the people in my life that made me realize the most important decision I would ever make in my life – Accepting Jesus as my Savior. I could not have survived some of the things I have been through in my life with out His help.

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Nov 30 – I am thankful for someone suggesting this challenge to remind us all of the many things we need to be aware of that are gifts to be thankful for.

As I close off the challenge of my thankful November I remind everyone to be kind. I ran across this quote which I though was very appropriate from Mark Twain. He said –

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

So I close in reminder saying of it’s the tiny things we do in life that can bring the greatest thankfulness and the brightest joy.

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Beauty in Nature, #1LinerWednesday

There are many beauties we see daily in nature that give us a glimpse of what Eden must have looked like. Adam, as he named all the creatures, seeing that some were more beautiful but realizing each specie had it purpose in creation that blended with the circle of life as intended for all to be harmonious with each other. Working together as a unit of divine creation and then….man ruined it. I read an article recently listing the most dangerous creatures in the world and man was listed as one of the worst. How could we, the beautiful creation that representing God himself, strayed so far from His purpose. But this story is not about what man has done but to refocus back on the beauty of creation itself. Specifically, birds. Since I am somewhat temporarily disabled, my mobility is challenged and I have really become very fond of the birds that visit my feeder.

Yes, even the pesky squirrel is part of nature although neither I nor the birds appreciate his appearance. But the few that I admire the most are the woodpeckers and the red cardinals. With the ground now covered in snow, their bright red feathers really are beautiful.

I had remembered my sister saying that cardinals represented loved ones recently lost but I don’t really buy into that but in research I did find some interesting facts. With cardinals, they are mates for life. They don’t mind the cold weather so that is why their bright red plumage shows up so well against the snow covered trees.

In many cultures they are thought to be messengers from the spirit world. Their bright red feathers represent love, boldness and passion. Their resilience of harsh weather can bring hope for hard times. Cardinals are appreciated as good fortune bearers and they remind the followers of Christ of His red blood that was shed for us. They are also symbols of Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s birth. They bring joy, song, harmony and happiness to people’s homes and lives. I have one that sits on my tree in the living room.

As you go out in the world, open your eyes to the beauty of creation. Even the tiniest of flowers can bring a smile knowing that God placed it there for you to enjoy.

And always remember the value of kindness. Like a single bloom that makes you smile, a single act of kindness can bring sunshine to someone’s gray day.

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In following along with Linda G Hills One Liner Wednesday, we add the cute monkey that represents Peace, Love and One Liner Wednesday.

For the Love of Mimi…Really?

Our fur babies really get under our skin and strike our heart strings but sometimes I wonder if they do things just to annoy us. We all know how smart they are and that they think they are the boss…sometimes they are.

IMG_20181127_100749 — How appropriate sometimes

I saw this on Face Book and thought it was very true at times. It can be annoying…or am I the only one with this problem. Let’s do today’s example.

Due to training as a puppy and other situations at the time we had a water bowl located in 2 areas – there was three but enough already. One with her food station, by the kitchen and one in the bathroom. I tried to eliminate the one in the bathroom but gave up due to all the back talk I got.

IMG_20181101_153502 — I have never had a verbally complaining dog before this one.

She will sit there “back talking” until she is satisfied that I have done what she wants done. I am really not that much of a pushover, she is that demanding. Yes, she is spoiled and likes the fact that I am retired now and can be at every whim of her desire. Today, her water bowl in the bath was very low – not empty- but lower than she wanted so she brought it to the living room to show me it was low, spilling the remainder of the contents as she placed it in my view.

This is her ice chest to keep her off of the window where the sill needs repainting. Since my current ability to get around is hindered for a few more weeks, I was not fast enough for her. Oh, and she had to walk by her feeding station to get the now empty bowl to the window and that bowl has plenty of water in it.

IMG_20181127_105443 — Not the bowl she wanted to drink from.

So we made sure all bowls were full and in their correct places. Mimi. She can be a butt sometimes but I do still love her. Anybody else got a dog that controls the house?

In closing remember to be kind, it still amazes me how animals fully understand inter-specie kindness and love. Kindness is a gift from God to all of creation.

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November Thankful Challenge, Week 4

I did not get this posted yesterday so I am a day late for week 4. The month of November is where we focus on things we are thankful for so I am posting this weekly during the month to share all that I am thankful for. Some overlap a bit but thankfulness has a way of doing that because life overlaps in many ways as it should. If you didn’t see the others and would like to, they are listed here; week 1, week 2, week 3.

Nov 19 – I am thankful the Lord has given me yet another day. Hopefully I use each day as the gift it is.

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Nov 20 – I am thankful that although the pain in my foot is minor as I recover from surgery, at least I still have a foot that is healing nicely. Now both are done.

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Nov 21 – I am so thankful for God’s light that shines on all of us and for the many artist that use their talents to remind us and lift us when we need that lift.

Nov 22 – I am thankful for what this day remind us of and for the love of family and friends that surrounds at this time. Also for the many memories of this day, the “Wow” moments and the “Oh, Really” moments.

Nov 23 – I am so very thankful that I do not have the shopping bug so that I do not have to get out in the madness of Black Friday.

crazy

Nov 24 – I am thankful for the fun I have with college football and super excited that my team won and is headed to the conference championship, Go Dawgs!

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Nov 25 – I am thankful for all the blessing I have received and the ability to enjoy sitting on the couch watching the birds eat as much as they can before the snow gets too thick on the feeders. Then of course it did.

Nov 26 – I am so thankful that I have a daughter that is taking care of me as I heal and that she took care of all the snow removal since I am still on the knee walker from surgery. Don’t think it would do well in 13″ of snow.

And remember as always, especially when times, weather and situations get trying, be kind. It can be the greatest gift you could give.

kind 10 — Friendship and kindness and healing tools

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Super short post. Just wanted to share my front yard illuminated by the street light. I got tickled by the chair as you can see how high the back and arms are vs. how high the snow is…and still snowing. We are expecting 8-12″. It is beautiful but hope it doesn’t damage the evergreens that are bent under its weight. Hope all have a warm snug-as-a-bug sleep tonight.

And remember…

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Flood in the Midwest, #FOWC

With the current disaster of California going up in flames, it reminds us that Mother Natures periodically goes on rampage.

This past summer the midwest got hit with 2 severe storms that were residuals of hurricanes from the gulf and we were not really prepared for that onslaught. The power of water in an uncontrolled state is terrifying.

dep iowa 3 — Mill on edge of flooded river. Water breaking through building and emptying out windows.

Even in disasters or especially during disasters, let us always remember the value of kindness. That is when it is needed more than ever in so many ways.

kindnessdog — Everything needs saving from the many floods of life