A couple people have asked me how the fence was going and I am about 1/3 down the fence line. It has been a fun project but it has been so hot, (yes, it gets hot in Iowa) that I can only be out there for about an hour at the time. But this weekend is supposed to be marvelous so I hope to get a lot done…but there is also football, so we will see.
So here we are so far…
The scroll is still wet but it will have “Trust in the Lord” Proverbs 3:5.
Everyone needs to find something that they enjoy, especially when they retire and for me, I don’t sit well, so I paint and write. Currently working on book 2 of Smiles from Heaven, maybe by Christmas.
Remember as always the power and value of being kind. Every living creature needs kindness. Have a fabulous week.
I am also looking forward to doing more challenges. Summer has kept me busy so now that it is slowing down, I can find ways to play. thanks Cee for restarting CFFC for fun foto challenges.
Now that fall is around the corner, the oranges and yellows of fall are beginning to show their pretty little faces. I think this is one of several varieties of coreopsis.
While this is thought of as a single flower, if you look close, there are tiny flowers in the center. Nature is so cool. As you enjoy nature, carry that smile and share it with others. That smile may be just that thing someone needs.
I am by no stretch an artist and thank goodness art critiques are in the eye of the beholder. My daughter thinks my style is Clampet tacky but you would not get that reference unless you were of a certain age here in the US.
This spring and early summer we had several storms of high winds that played havoc on my plastic lattice fence, breaking it in a couple of places. Since the support beams were still in place, I bought the fence planks and a dear friend installed them for me. I choose an not straight line with the thought that then no one can accuse you of your fence not being straight. This caused more eye rolling from my daughter.
Not it is my time to play. Last week I got the base coat painted on one side.
Since I love my flowers, I decided to paint meadow and flower scenes on the fence. Now I can have flowers even when it snows. The cool thing about that is, if you don’t like it, just paint over it. This morning before it got too warm, I painted the meadow grass and one test flower panel…we will see if it stays.
I think I need to come back with the darker green for all of the lower boards. But it’s a work in progress. I am of the opinion that if you enjoy an activity, and that activity hurts no one, (you can choose to not look at my fence), then you should enjoy your activity. Life is too short to not enjoy what you do.
I close with a reminder of being kind. Kindness is a secret power that can heal many a broken heart.
In today’s era of doing everything quicker and more efficiently, I believe we have lost what little common sense we had. Are we not teaching our children how to think? It would seem that way in some instances. I would hate to think we just are getting to the point of caring less and less. Yes, this is a very small matter that happened today but it seems to set a pattern of where we all are in today’s world – doing just enough to get by.
Now I have come to accept the fact that my name is very hard to spell…but seriously? You can spell Juanita easily but you can’t spell Anita??!? just remove the J and the U…Guess that is too difficult or requires thinking out of the norm. Maybe I should just tell them my name is Ann. How could you mess that up – don t ask.
Then of course to speed things up in the drive through lane, they have people stationed at the beginning of the line with a tablet giving the kitchen orders. I fail to see how that speeds things up when you all have to go to the one window to pay and receive your food.
Plus the info they type in for your order is to make sure the window has the right food for the right customer. Yet, I still have to verify drinks at the window because for some reason, Coke and Diet coke sound the same…but whatever.
Then of course there is the obvious proof of assuring the correct customer gets the right food by making sure the car is the same. Does this look like a white car to you???
Not even to a person with color blond issues is this a white car. Gray maybe but definitely not white.
I try hard to keep my tongue in check but sometimes I can’t help what my face does. And I don’t think there are that many stupid people. I think we are just overrun by lazy people or people who don’t care about what they are doing.
So my advice for the day still is to always be kind because. Some may need it more than others, for a number of reasons.
I have not posted very many of my flowers this summer and summer is almost gone. We have had lots of rain this year which helps in some areas and hinders in others. But nature is still my favorite way to relax.
A favorite hardy flower is Portulaca, most commonly know as Moss Roses, as they do look like a small rose. While the blooms are small, their colors are amazing – multiple colors from the same plant.
A new plant for me this year is an Ice Plant. Quite interesting as it totally closes up at night and reopens the next morning. I guess he understands the power of a good night’s sleep.
This last flower for today I don’t know the name of but it is an interesting tiny flower on a mound of greenery. It has three larger petals and two smaller ones giving it a unique shape. The only purple left in my yard.
As summer begins to wind down, let us not forget the beauty we enjoyed and welcome in the fall colors of yellow and orange. Have a great week and always remember the simple beauty of kindness.
The architecture tour from Tuesday through the older buildings of Davenport, Iowa, had many amazing doors, but I think my favorite one was once the First National Bank building which now houses the US Bank Center. It very much fits with the Thursday Doors prompt.
The bank was built in 1924, this year marks its 100th birthday. Smith and Childs, an architectural firm from Chicago, and architect O.H. Breidert, designed this beautiful building. While it is still a full use bank, it also displays a section of the history of the area with photographs and historical information. But its brass door…
The upper door detail
Inside the archway of the door are raised sculptures reflecting the Renaissance Revival period.
Here is a closeup of one of the figures. Amazing detail.
When you first enter the entrance alcove of the bank, there is a wall display on marble slabs of important people from the area, from Chief Blackhawk to Bix Beiderbecke.
When you go into the main lobby of the bank, the ceiling may make you forget what century we now live in.
Check out these closeup details of the ceiling.
I find it heart breaking that this era of design is no longer affordable to build plus not having the artistic skill with stone they had back then. So enjoy your older buildings while they are still around and appreciate the talent it took to create them. Don’t get me wrong, the architectural talent we have today is just as amazing, it just doesn’t have that artistic flare that I love.
In closing, I remind you of the value of kindness in all that you do. Your gentle smile may be just the thing that a hurting person needs to carry on with the day.
A couple of years ago, I was amazed by the architecture of the surrounding area where I currently live. So, I created a series of post called Amazing Stonework featuring some of those buildings.
This morning I went on an architectural history tour put on by the public library. And it was amazing. We must never take for granted that these beautiful buildings will be here forever and enjoy them while we have them.
For me the most amazing building in this area was once a prominent bank building. Today it is apartments but in its day, wow.
In 1927, Walsh & Kahl Construction Company, with the designs of Weary and Alfred of Chicago, built the tallest building in the area. The lower section of the building is black marble and the doors and windows have intricate metal details surrounding them.
American Commercial & Savings Bank
The second floor shows the Roman style columns with detailed capitals and recessed arched windows.
As cool as I have always thought the outside was, on this tour, we got to go inside. The bank lobby is no longer used but coming into the side entrance where people access their apartments, we got to see the lobby from its back window. I would have never thought this architectural beauty existed in Davenport, Iowa. Amazing.
A wealthy philanthropist needs to restore this beauty and use it again. It’s a shame this architectural beauty is not seen. The detail in the ceiling shows a riverboat, since that is what brought wealth to the region.
The hall going up to the apartments also has amazing wooden inlaid ceilings.
Because of my art background, I tend to look at architecture from a different perspective than historical. A perspective that we have lost due to it’s cost and the available skill of these amazing craftsmen. I love the artistic view and understand the amount of work this beautiful form of architecture has. And yes, the only place we see this now is in our older buildings. So we must make every effort to preserve this so that later generation can see it. We don’t want to go all the way over to the “pond” to see this amazing artwork.
Below are other picture of this building including a side view showing the stone statues that are on top. I assume they are eagles but they could be winged dragons as well. I will have to do more research.
Side EntranceClock tower showing stone eagles
Remember in all things, always be kind. This morning a young robin was trying to learn to fly and mistakenly landed in the street. One of the ladies in the group instantly went out into the street to make sure the fledgling did not get run over. He hopped under a car and hopefully figured out what to safely do. His mama was very upset.
When you live by a river, you can expect occasional floods but this is an amazing shot of what it is like today. This photo was taken by a drone and placed on the cities website.
This is Davenport, Iowa, part of the Quad Cities area where 4 cities live, 2 on each side of the mighty Mississippi River. Usually at spring thaw after a high snow winter, we see this – never in July. But we have be inundated with storms and high rainfall since spring. Thus we have roads on both sides of the river closed due to flooding.
Some may think this photo is fake, AI or photoshopped but I assure you it isn’t. The ball park, Woodman Park, is on a little bit of a rise, plus it is surrounded by a higher retaining wall that the rest of the park. The blue line shows approximate location of the sidewalk retaining wall for the park which is usually 3-5 feet above the river.
You can seen to the far right the railroad track. It was recently raised due to being flooded out each spring. Here are a couple of photos of that same stretch of track in 2019.
Water has a power that is hard to match. I guess that is why we try to harness it power with dams to make electricity.
I am sure each area where we live has its own battles with mother nature, I just thought I would share mine. Stay safe and remember to share kindness, especially when times are hard.
There are some of us who struggle with self-worth. One of the most powerful tools of Satan used to discourage and destroy us. But I want to express my opinion of the absolute value from God that he has bestowed on each of us.
We are all created by God, in his image…and God doesn’t make mistakes. Even though we feel others may think less of us, God smiles on us because of his profound love for us. I wrote this little encouragement that expresses how I believe we should think us ourselves. I call it Beautiful Package
In many ways, we concern ourselves too much with how others see us. We think we should be prettier or more profound than we actually are, making us anxious on what we believe we are not.
We forget we are made in God’s image and everything he creates has a beauty of its own. Let’s take a sunflower as an example. Although there are several varieties, people seem to think sunflowers are always tall.
Even though this sunflower, planted by one of the many birds in my yard, is barely over one foot tall, its beauty is stunning. It has one flower open and two other buds waiting to open. So I remind you that while you may not be a tall sunflower sharing your beauty in a bright blue sky, your beauty is still not missed by God and he wants the light of your beauty to shine from the inside. Beauty that is on the inside is far more important than beauty that is on the outside seen by others.
Do not stress over what you may see, or not see, in the mirror. Remember God created it all and he said it was good. That was what he said at the beginning, and it is also true for now. We have to accept our beauty given as a gift and we need to share its light with God’s love so that others may feel that beauty. With that mindset, your beauty will be beyond measure.So allow your flower to bloom as you share the love God gave you to share. And while it may not be accepted by some, when given as God intended, it will always bring a smile to his face. For he told us to love as he loves. Allow the beauty he gave you to shine and brighten someone else’s day.
In closing, I remind you that when you share the attributes of God, your light is always bright. Shine your inner beauty and always be kind.
Life can be hard on a good day, but it is those trying days that give us strength. Sometimes God shows us proof of His loving resilience for us through nature. Those who read my blog, know that I have a thing for sunflowers. This was my sunflower from last year.
At one point it had over 50 blooms. But this year I have not been as lucky as we have had some crazy wind storms. My one tall sunflower was growing at about five feet tall when wind broke in half. But ‘Patience’, my one resilient sunflower now has 3 buds. I named it Patience because it is proof of the resilience of nature as it lifts its face to the heavens for the sun and like all flowers do, to show off their beauty to God. Here you can see how the storm knocked Patience to the ground but she refused to stay down.
Her stem is bent and shows scar tissue but still she grows
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, Paul reminds us that in our weakness we can be strong as long as we lean on Christ,
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Another example of weakness takes on a little different turn. One of the storms this week took down a huge oak tree by our church. While studying the trunk as they finished cutting it down, I saw that the tree was weak on the inside with disease and carpenter ants.
Look how the tree tried to curl it’s trunk around its disease and continue to grow. The trunk’s hole, if you look at it just right, looks like a heart.
I plant to fill that hole with dirt and plant some thrift in it to cascade over the edge of the trunk still showing the beauty of the tree.
While our lives may be hard, somewhere in all that trial, God still sees beauty, even if we don’t. So, don’t give up when it gets hard, but reach for God’s hand and let him show you your beauty in weakness.
And as always, remember to be kind, it shows your inner beauty.
For the Love of 