~HAPPY 4TH~

I AM WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY, EAT ALL YOU CAN, SEE SOME PARADES AND FIREWORKS, SPEND TIME WITH LOVED ONES AND BE SAFE FOURTH OF JULY......... I LOVE THIS HOLIDAY BECAUSE I LOVE THE TRADITION OF IT ALL..MY FAMILY AND MY MOMS SISTER'S FAMILY HAVE BEEN SITTING ON THE SAME CORNER FOR THE BEXLEY PARADE FOR OVER 25YEARS...THAT CORNER HAS HAD SOME KIND OF FAMILY REPRESENTATION FROM ONE OF OUR FAMILY'S EVERY YEAR SINCE I CAN REMEMBER AND WE ARE ALL VERY TERRITORIAL WHEN IT COMES TO THAT CORNER..EITHER MYSELF OF MY COUSIN-KHRIS WILL STAKE THE AREA VERY EARLY ON PARADE DAY..IT IS ALWAYS VERY HUMID OR SOME KIND OF RAIN EVERY YEAR...BUT WE ALL MAKE IT THERE BY THE TIME THE PARADE ROLLS PAST US..IT IS FUN, USUALLY SOMEONE HAS A PICNIC, THIS YEAR WE ARE GOING TO MY AUNT & UNCLES NEW HOME FOR THE PICNIC, COUSIN -JEN AND HER BOYS ARE IN FROM COLORADO...MY MOM WILL MAKE HER ALWAYS REQUESTED POTATO SALAD AND UNCLE DOB WILL FIRE UP THEGRILL WITH SOMETHING TASTY..THEIR NEW HOME HAS A POOL WHICH IS A DEFINITE PLUS THIS YEAR...KHRIS PROMISES THAT IT WILL BE CLEANED UP AND READY FOR THE INSPECTION...WE ARE A TIGHT-KNIT GROUP , MY MOM AND HER SISTER'S FAMILY...WE ALL GREW UP TOGETHER AND HELD FAST THROUGH THICK & THIN..BUT WE ALWAYS COME TOGETHER AT THE FOURTH OF JULY!!! OKAY, I AM GETTING TEAREY-EYED..TIME TO STOP AND AND YEAH, I FOGOT ABOUT MY MOST FAVORITE THING..FIREWORKS AND MORE FIREWORKS..I AM STILL AMAZED AT THEM, EVEN AT MY AGE..I TRY AND SEE AS MANY AS I CAN...LAST YEAR WAS ABOUT 5DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES..WE WILL SEE WHAT THIS YEAR BRINGS!!
I AM VERY PATRIOTIC AND THANK GOD THAT I HAVE THE FREEDOMS THAT I DO AND PRAY FROM OUR TROOPS THAT THEY COME HOME SAFE AND THANK THEM FOR PROECTING OUR FREEDOMS...
SO, DUST OFF THE RED, WHITE & BLUE!!! BE PATRIOTIC AND HAPPY 4TH OF JULY~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~ankle art~

when i add my pictures i never know how the words or pictures will show....anyway, i was hard pressed to blog today. i really didnt have any pictures ready or anything else to add..but lo and behold! i found these wonders, lol lurking around wanting to be shown...these are a few of my tattoos..i love them all...my daughter and i got the ladybug tattoo on the same day as a mom-daughter thing..i like the way her ladybug looks better than mine...2 different artists in the same parlor same ladybug design but yet different..i am big on the sun theme as your can tell, have another one one my back with my daughter's name floating in the clouds...most of the designs that i have are all done by shawn j....he doesnt do ink anymore which is a shame because he is awesome artist....i know everyone says how are you going to feel about those when you are really old??? you know, i dont really think about that, i love to get inked and i love the hunt of the perfect design that i can carry around with me forever...i remember getting each of my designs and it is like a look into the past when i think about my various tattoos and where i was in my life, where i lived and what was i doing at that time...i love all mine and cannot wait until i get my next one!

good sunday morning or afternoon to all!!! it is 1:15pm in ohio and yes i am still in my pjs-well really my nightshirt and sweatpants drinking my iced nonfat latte from starbucks...do you like my hat?? i just received it from kirks folly. it is the dreamkeeper hatter chapeau, but i call it my mad hatter chapeau..you know like in alice in wonderland..i love hats! i added my little touch of the the lilac fairy pin to the hat of course!! i am just putzing around..we have a high school graduation party at 4:00pm, so i figure it was safe to in the relax mode until it was time to go....~*~*~update on the animals-1)turtle is safe, later last night, he was seen walking to the neighbors pond..i totally forgot that most of our surrounding neighbors have big ponds..julie followed him and she said he was moving at a good clip..i saw him later that night sticking his head out of the water..so, he must be okay..i hope the neighbor knows he has a big snapper in the pond!!! 2)miller the cat-picked him up friday after work, he does not like to ride in the car..couldnt get out of the car fast enough to run..later that night he was chasing some kildeer birds that stopped by..i had to go out and have a talk with him about that!!! he still is on an antibiotic but you would never know from his energy that he was hurt!! which is a good thing...he has stitches in his paw that will come out on wednesday..heather will take those out...it is a good thing also that she knows how to do that kind of stuff!! 3)sadly- still no lily..~*~*~*~
it is sunny and warm, possible thunderstorms later tonight...maybe i wil get lucky and not have to water the plants again!!! have a great day!!!

~turtle~

wasnt going to have anything today to post, but julie fixed that wagon! as you can see from the pictures we have a visitor to our property..julie was mowing the lawn and she came upon this turtle, she thought it was just a rock in the mowing lane..you are probably wondering how he got there, well- we are confident he showed up courtesy of the rain storm on thursday evening!! so tomorrow if he is still there we will try and transport him to the ohio wildlife rescue..it is about 20minutes away..he looks like he has some damage to his shell towards the center..they will fix him up and release him when he is ready...the problem will be how to get him into the car..if you have ever tried to move a snapping turtle then you know what i am talking about..you think his little head cannot come out far-you are dead wrong...their necks can stretch pretty far and you do not want to be on the receiving end of that business!!! his toenails are really long too, like a bear claw -seriously!!what is even more freaky is his tail, it is very dinosaur-like and very prehistoric looking...i guess i never thought to really look a turtle over...but he is quite magnificent looking...i am glad he stopped by as he must have knowm we would take good care of hi...i hope the cats steer clear of him!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~picnic~

ok~these are some pictures of me at our company picnic...i am on our company social committee and every year we plan a nice all day away from the office picnic type function..this year was a repeat of last years place because it was so nice..it is at a place called darby dan farms. it is a huge-huge huge place that has lush green acreage and 18hole golf course hikingtrails, canoeing, fishing, etc...anyway, it rained for a solid 2hrs in the morning which was okay as we had a speaker..he was great , he is a certified joyologist amongst one of his designations..he lives by the creed~dont postpone joy..he say that it is so so so important to include humor and laughter in our daily stressfilled lives..he says everyone should laugh a good hearty laugh 15times a day.. i know i do, i love a good laugh!! the speaker is also a personal friend of mine..he and his wife are close friends with another really close friend of mine that puts on the "annual white trash" halloween party..more about the white trash party when it gets closer to halloween..anyway, the rain finally cleared up and we had a nice lunch buffet and we got to play bingo, which everyone loves and i got to do some of the calling, i so L-O-V-E-D it!!! i got to use a microphone, so of course i so hammed it up....it was fun and i think i missed my calling..lol..lol..anyway, a good time was had by all. i wore the hat to protect me from you all know by now-TICKS~*~*~
ps...on a sadder note..still no lily...
miller will be home tomorrow night...

~STORMS~

THESE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM THE STORM WE HAD LAST NIGHT..IT WASNT AS BAD AS IT LOOKS. THE CLOUDS WERE DARK , SCARY AND MAGICAL ALL AT THE SAME TIME..THAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE STORM.. I KNEW HOW DOROTHY FELT!!!!!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~pink art~

well, here she is in all her grandeur...not sure if i like her or not..but it is my offering for the "pink tag" from http://arttealife.blogspot.com / i think arttealife needs to host a swap..she is quite good at finding the coolest things, i think that i would like her to have my name in a swap!
i will have to check out the others art who were also tagged "pink"...miller update~he is healing nicely, but havent exactly talked to the vet personally..they did say he needs to be contained for 7days, thus the reason he will be staying at the animal hospital in the kitty condo with a view..heal on, miller, heal on.......xox~k
****06-20-06****
UPDATE ON MILLER~he will be coming home thursday evening minus one toe...
doctor doesnt seem to think he will even miss it.. vet staff do not want him to leave,
they say he is a lover boy and that he is!~

kitty 911~

this is miller bodine~our boy kitten..he is 1yr old but we still call him and his sister kittens..anyway, we had to take miller to our vet last night at 9:30pm as his paw was injured and he was limpping, his paw looked like a flip-flop..our vets are always on call(for a fee) but they are still cheaper than the ER animal hospitals and they know our pets...anyway, what we think happened was friday night we got home from some friend's home around 12:30am and julie went to the barn to let dakota out and dakota was on the outside wall of the barn growling and her hair was up on her back, then all you could her was a cat crying..julie ran out and tried to call him, but he was nowhere to be found and didnt show up until last night..it looks like either a raccon or possum clawed his front left paw down to the muscle/bone area..there is no fur protecting that now and he might be losing one of his toes..but the cool thing about miller is he let us look at it and didnt cry, let the vet look him over and didnt mind a bit..so, he is keeping him at the vet hospital, last night he wanted to give him some antibiotics, numb it so he can look around in it and make sure that nothing is broken..so they are to call on monday to let us know what is going on.. will keep you informed..his sister~lily has been missing for about 3days, i know it is normal for cats to do that but i still worry, she is very impressionable and i dont want her running with the wrong crowd!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

seeing red~

seeing red usually means that your angry or ticked off..this particular post is quite the opposite....i want to tell you how many wonderful, and generally nice people i have met through my blog, ebay, etsy, and my folly forum..some have become close friends and have left their footprints on my heart..i look forward to their emails or mail daily, like one of my cats stalking a mouse! if i dont hear from them, i am sad and disappointed, i know that they have better things to do then talk to me over the net and their worlds dont revolve around me....i love to hear what is going on in their worlds and i even have a few friends across the pond..one in particular i just LOVE..she is such a dear and i wish she was here so i just could hug her..i am a big hugger, come from a long line of huggers....you all spur my creativity and are always there at all hours of the day and night to listen to my rant and ravings..anyway, i want to thank them all for their friendship and camaraderie and making my heart all warm and fuzzy!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~

~blue~

i choose this picture today from photographer-Michael L. Smith..it is one of my most favorite pictures by him...i have never seen a "bluebird" in person but find the little creature so endearing..such a plump little bird with bright blue and orangeish/reddish feathers..how can this not bring a smile to your face..there is so much in nature that can bring a smile to your face..take the time to stop and enjoy before that urban sprawl takes it all away from us..i know i do..living on 5 1/2 acres, we have our share of nature..i have yet to see any deer on our property. julie & heather have but not me... i know they are there because i have seen them in the fields..anyway, just take some time and stop and see what our beautiful mother nature has to offer!! youmight be surpirsed~~~~*

~grey color day~

tell me this picture is not cute...these are 2 of the donkeys my friends have..one is a pregnant female and the other is her mate..they are sicilian minature donkeys. the legend is that these donkeys carried the pregnant virgin mary-thus the reason for the black cross across their shoulder blades and down their back...they are so beautiful and i can watch them for hours..the strange thing about them is i keep waiting on them to talk..you know like the donkey in the movie "SHREK"..i expect their voice to sound just like eddie murphy, seriously , i do!!! anyway, thought this would be a great picture for grey day!!~**~*~*~*~**~

~brown~

the theme for the second day of color week is brown...going through my stuff i had at work, i really like this beeswax little picture i did..it was one of my first attempts when i was learning to use the beeswax approach on stuff...i love the saying on it also..it warms my heart to hear a dog's feet racing down the steps to meet their owner at the door or in my case 4stets of feet...love the wet kisses and tailsgoing 100miles on honor..complete dedication and unconditional love..we all shold be so lucky...so, hug you furbaby today~*~*~*~*

"birthday girl"

today is the birthdate of my daughter-Heather.
she is 23yrs old today and she says she is old..she doesnt know what old is-i tell her all the time..she is a beautiful free-spirited and hard-headed girl! just like her mother..she has a great love for her nana and her grumpy pa and loves to help others who are less fortunate than her! her heart is as big as whale when it comes to animals especially dogs and cats...thus the reason we have 5dogs & 3cats....she loves to sleep and when she isnt talking on the phone , she can be found curled up in her bed with one or more of the dogs along side her. she is my ray of sunshine and breath of fresh air and thorn in my side all wrapped into one... i know someday she will be out on her own and i will worry like the dickens about her, so while she is still under my roof, i watch her like a mother hawk~so she doesnt have to experience the harshness of the world...i know she will do fine, that sweet child of mine~*~*~*~happy bithday, my baby girl!*!*!

kaj's birthday!

today is a special day, it is kaj's birthday! he is 5years old...
he is our male harlequin-merle great dane..we havent had for all of those 5years, just about 2..he is a sweet boy. the only male in the house. he is very stoic and loves to watch things..when we have the plummer out -kaj followed him around like he was his apprentice. it is very funny to watch..he is a big 'fraidy cat of unsuspecting noises. when he hears something he doesnt like, he high tails it upstairs in the the master bathroom...he doesnt like to walk on anything no carpeted...when he does have to walk on noncarpeted surfaces he is very very slow like he is walking on eggshells...he is a leaner and will gladly sit his rump on you for a short sit. loves to hoave his ears rub and loves a good massage..when he is really tired and you try to talk to him or pet him , he makes these lurch-type noises, you know lurch from the "addams family sitcom"..they sound just like him!we are very greatful to have kaj and love him to death..he is a joy to have around this old man...

"altered book opening"

today was the "OPENING" of the exhibit for the altered books. the reason for going was because my book made the exhibit. the altered book exhibit was very nice and there was a reception from 2 to 4 this afternoon..the artists received the poster..which i was thrilled because my book is the first book on the top row..it was cool, i felt like i made it to the "big top". the other books were very interesting in their themes or lack of.. colors, textures, pop-outs, lots of different things that i never thought of.... i wanted to go home and immediately try out the techniques i saw...i didnt instead i took a nap..ha ha...i was tired ...back to the exhibit...i found out about this little place through a fellow artist at a scrapbooking store i frequent. they have a group meeting every 3rd tuesday of the month and we learn new techniques, trade ATCS and just talk about anything and everything...i love it and really look forward to it each month! last month, i went to a community garage sale and bought some really old books in super great condition that i will use to altered. all shapes & sizes, i have many techniques i need to try..what i really would like o find is an old ledger book, you know the giant ones that accountants used to use with the pages all yellowed...how cool would that be!!!!
all in all i feel proud that my book was good enough to be considered for this exhibit!!
~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

SUMMER BUG

ok, i like the warmer weather with the exception of 1 thing....TICKS!
so we live in the country on 5 1/2 acres and i do expect the occassional tick to show up on the cats becasue they live outside but i have seen more than my share of them in the last month, my GAWD!
whenever we are outside, we check ourselves and each other for any riders on our clothing, shoes, hair, hats, etc and we check the dogs and we check the cats everynight all the animals are of course on a preventative medicine for the normal crap...but i guess that isnt good enough becasue last night at 2:00am, i wake up and feel something on my arm and i think it is a loose feather from the feather bed, so the light goes on and sure enough it is one of those dreaded ticks, so i start to scream-TICK-TICK-TICK, so Julie comes and takes it and takes it outside and burns it with a match..really the only way to kill them, so needless to say, i am tired, cranky and so totally grossed out..i know thatthis is a bad year for them because the winter was so mild, but it still grosses me out..i can take really any other kind of bed except those!! it brings me to my knees..it has been windy and that brings them in too, i am told..my aunt has lived in the country forever and she told me this is a bad year and when it is windy-take cover...i love our property and the flowers and being outside so i guess i am going to have to invest in a hazmat suit for going outside...that is just a thought!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

sambucca's roses

these roses are from my rose garden..when we decided to do the landscaping on the house, i wanted to plant rose bushes in memory of sambucca..he so loved flowers especially sweet smelling roses. when i would walk him he would always stop and smell the flowers...one time he
must have smelled so much that he got a thorn embedded in a tear duct whch caused his eye to swell..we thought he had a cancerous tumor and would lose his eye until we got the results back from the vet and he told us it was a thorn...we had a good laugh on that...so i picked out 9rose plants..all with interesting names like tahitian sunset(smells like a tropical drink), truly yours, ebb tide, oklahoma, elle, and barbara streisand..they smell like heaven. i wanted to be able to open the kitchen windows and have their smell drift in.....sambucca would be in heaven on earth!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

wallpaper art~

i was at my local sherman williams store picking up some paint and i asked the guy-"what do you do with the old wallpaper books", he said"do you want to be on the list?", of course, i said YES!!! so, in a couple of days i get a call to come pickup some books, i thought there would be a couple, there were *8*...i was so excited!!!! so there they sat in my studio basement for awhile...i didnt really know where to start, i had seen some beautiful things on etsy and some of the other blogs, i venture to..so i started to go through the books and really look at the designs which are really beautiful including a couple of western wallpaper books and their designs are just as nice also..so i picked a couple of papers out and went from there..i like the words on this border-VIEUX AMIS..it means "old friends", so of course i had to add a dog and this particular dog is from an old postcard and he looks like our great dane-kaj...so i played around with this mess for a couple of days, took it apart meaning took the glued stuff off and reglued different things and i added the words-sons meilleurs means are best...so the caption is "old friends are best"....i really like the way it turned out, i think??
so you be the judge and tell me..it is not as easy as it looks...now what am i going to do with 8wallpaper books? i do not know...but i can have lots of practice art, cant i!>>>>>~*~*~*~*~*~

*rainbow*

well, this posting is after the fact but still cool...i was such a crab last wednesday that i decided to treat myself and get a maincure/pedicure & massage after work..it all was very relaxing..i decided to take off my acrylics after beaucoup years of having them, so my nails are a little knubby..i had picked them all off last month and was in desparate need of a manicure..anyway while i was inside it must had stormed pretty bad as everything was drenched when i came out..so i am driving home and i see this rainbow and i am like a kid in a candy store..i immediately get all giddy and cannot believe i am seeing one...you would had thought i had never seen on but i havent in quite a while and one is really cool is the farther i get out of the city the more i can see the other side of the raindbow. normally you can only see the on side but lo & behold it was both sides, so i am praying as i am driving, please stay out until i get home to take a picture..so while it it pretty faded by the time i got home, you can still make it out....it made my week, it is a good thing when God knows you need a pick me up and he sends one of his miracles your way! it made my week~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

it has been a hot, humid and rainy week. last night early evening, we had a horrible storm, lightning, thunder, hail, wind and rain...ruby and i were trying to nap, she doesnt like storms! we thought that the windows were going to blow in..when it all finally ended, we went to survey any damage and come to see that the new gazebo that we put up on sunday had partially blown into the screened-in porch, the damage is really minor, but it is such a pain to get the screens out to fix..so in the meantime some duct tape will be applied to keep the critters out of my porch..the firepit blew across the pation and somewhere there is a hanging fern plant..in the front yard, our trash cans(yesterday was trash day) took a ride into the neightbors corn field , we recovered all but one and that one is way back in his field....so, i am going to have to purchase one of those pop-up gazebos for future use as we need some cover on the patio...mother nature is not to be messed with as she will mess up you when pushed!!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~