Nature's Soothing

After another extremely busy Monday, I don't have any brains left with which to think of a post. There are lots of things to talk about, since I was busy this weekend, but for now, just enjoy the lovely photo I took of a flowering bush in my backyard. I set it as my desktop background. When I can form a coherent thought, I will share about my weekend activities.



I walked around my yard this afternoon after work, to sort of unwind and enjoy the beauty.

The End of the Work Week

Monday and Tuesday were terribly busy and we always blame it on the full moon. My husband didn't believe me the first time I mentioned that. And he looked at me like I had two heads when I simply said the word, "Lunatic?". He had no clue that it referred to the moon and still doesn't really believe me for some strange reason. Days like that make me want to just give up and stay at home, even if it means I don't get a new vehicle ever again. (We are in the considering stages of purchasing another vehicle)

I took a day off Wednesday. I had an early morning appointment with a urologist, just to make sure my solitary kidney was healthy, then I proceeded to do a little shopping and purchase a few new items of clothing and some bedding plants. After lunch, SR and I worked in the yard and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a wonderful day and made it very hard to go back to work yesterday.

It did show me however, that my hair is way too thick and hot, so I decided to cut it even shorter. It feels very light and is easy to fix now. LeLe was against it, and said what I planned was too short, but I like it better than the length it was. And my co-workers encouraged me to go for it. Maybe sometime, someone will actually take a picture of me and I can post it. It seems I'm always the one taking the photos.

Yesterday was a normal day at work. Not too busy but just enough to keep the time flying. And now I am at the end of the work week, glad it's over and I have my three day weekend to enjoy. At this moment, life is good. (eventhough I actually went in to work today, and did some cleaning and catching up.)

My baby sister is not having a very happy time right now. She is in the hospital with Staph in her face. She is swollen and in a lot of pain, poor thing. If all goes as planned, I will be traveling to Russellville where she is in the hospital, to see her on Sunday. Please remember her in your prayers.

Perfect Saturday

The weather today in Sheridan, Arkansas, USA is absolutely perfect. A light breeze, sunshine, warm, and wonderful. I took the opportunity to purchase some bedding plants and do a little gardening. I will need to purchase more, because the new rock bed around the tree has more space than I imagined.



Closeup of small bedding plants that need some company.



I also filled the pots on my front porch with a variety of plants. I've seen it done in hospitals and public gardens, and wanted to try my hand at it. When they begin to grow we will see how successful I was. I'd love to have even larger pots, but I have no place around the house that would be spacious enough to put them.


This is my idea of a perfect Saturday. Now, after all that digging, I can relax and enjoy.

As Promised

My other success I spoke of was finally, after about two years, finding the antique bed I wanted. After hunting antique shops all over the area, I drove by a new little place in Sheridan and it was standing out front of the shop, just waiting for me.



It's what I have referred to as a "Paneled Headboard" and maybe you can see the detailing in the photo below.




I'm told it's made of chestnut, a tree that has been long extinct, so it must be a very antique thing. It smelled so old, I was almost giddy. Believe me, I know how weird that sounds, but for an antique lover, there is a certain smell to a really old piece of furniture. I learned of it in childhood, when my parents and grandparents purchased antique pieces. Guess I inherited their love of all things antique. That smell often takes me back to my childhood memories. Very pleasant ones too.

Summer Movies

I'm not much of a moviegoer. I normally wait until the DVD is out, or I can just order it on Dish Network. But this add for The Incredible Hulk caught my eye because Edward Norton plays the lead.

When I first noticed Ed, he didn't really make much of an impact on me. But after seeing The Illusionist, he really got me. I love Sci-Fi, of any kind. So, magic, fantasy, comic book heroes, all appeal to me. And I found Ed a surprising Hulk alter-ego. I'm anxious to see this movie, eventhough I really know I'll probably not see it at the theater this summer. Its release is in June of 08.

Just thought I'd share.

Sweet Success X2

This week, the hubs and I both accomplished something we wanted to do. He managed to bag a 19 pound turkey. He's on vacation for two weeks and this will allow him to enjoy the rest of the hunting time because the "pressure" will be off. It amazes me that he can tell you exactly where he was 25 years ago, when he brought down a specific turkey, and what the circumstances were that he was able to call Ole Tom up. How many steps he was from the turkey, how many times he had to call....on every...single...turkey...he's....ever...harvested. He can do the same thing with the deer he's harvested over the years. I still find it hard to believe. His father can do that too. And it's not limited to hunting, he can tell you about every football game he ever played in as well. Who made what play, what was said before the play was called...you name it. Funny how he can't remember when I give him specifics on what I want as a Christmas or birthday gift..... hmmmm.
Here is a shot of Thomas T. Turkey.



Congratulations SR!

I also am on my way to accomplishing a specific goal. I've been wanting some decorative rocks to place around my trees in the backyard for almost a year. I've asked for a palette of rocks as I've mentioned in previous posts, but was not gifted with them. While SR was in Russellville (Hunting) last weekend, he picked up about a half a palette of rocks for me (from the ground and sides of the road...shhh, don't tell anyone) and brought them home. Oh Boy! He even helped me place them around one tree and then brought me good rich dirt from our land in Cleveland county to fill it up, and proceeded to help me plant some azaleas in the dirt. I'm not finished, as I want to add some bedding plants for spring and summer, but I'll have that knocked out in no time. I plan to buy some this weekend. I'll have one tree down and one to go. Here are some photos....

In the beginning......


In progress.....


Almost there....


So, aside from being a bit under the weather this weekend with vertigo, and having a weekend church function, I've been busy working on this. That is why I haven't posted lately.

I have another success story that I will share momentarily and will also share photos of my finished tree project as soon as I get it completed.

Making Up

I drove to Little Rock in the rain this morning. Not a big deal, but I normaly use any excuse not to drive to Little Rock. I had an appointment that I had to reschedule from when everything in LR shut down due to the "Big Snow" we had a while back. (Those of us in Arkansas know it only takes a flake or two for the entire state to go into full emergency mode.) So, I couldn't put it off again, as it took me a month to get it rescheduled. As I drove carefully and no faster than the speed limit, vehicles were flying by me. It's as if they were oblivious to the danger of hydroplaning, and believed they could all stop on a dime, on a rain soaked highway. It boggles my mind.

Anyway, as I was driving along, I was listening to a local radio station out of LR. The Morning Rush on B.98 had as a guest, a professional makeup artist. For those of you who aren't in state, the Morning Rush has three hosts, two being male. I was very surprised at this particular topic, but the female host is very witty and fun, and I bet she usually gets her way. One of the males was off for the day, but the remaining male was lost as a goose. He kept saying, I don't understand but I'm just sitting here listening and learning. Heh heh. Poor guy.

What I learned, I thought I'd share. A few things stuck out in my mind. The main one being that she said when you reach the age of about 50...... (as I will in September, boo hoo) you need to change your makeup. The older you get, the less makeup you need to wear. Now why is that, you might ask? Because it sinks into all those wrinkles and makes them more noticable. Hmmmm. You don't say? And if I understood correctly, in years past, older women used to wear more and more makeup as they aged, and it only made them look that much older. (In my mind's eye, I can see my grandmother with her eyebrows shaved off and penciled back on, cheeks with big circles of rouge and ruby red lips.)

So, I'm thinking, oooookaaaayden, what should I do? She suggested no mascara on the bottom lashes, and not much of it on the top. And using more moisturizer instead of foundation. I'd love to think I could go without makeup altogether and look halfway decent. Fact is, if I don't use three coats of mascara, I look like a zombie. So, I never, ever, leave the house without mascara and concealer on my raccoon undereye circles. I guess I'll experiment and see how long I hold out going with the whole "less is more" idea. Vanity will raise its ugly head in no time I'm sure and I'll begin pasting on all the makeup again, convinced it's hiding all my flaws. Just call me Grandma.

Another thing that stuck with me, was that if you have brown eyes, one of the best eye shadow colors for you is plumb. Hmmmm, I like that idea, but if I'm going with less, that's irrelevant isn't it?

She stressed eye cream, even for 20 year olds. And lots and lots of moisturizer for your specific skin type and lots and lots of sunblock. She said going without it was the most aging and damaging thing a woman could do. She stated that moisturizer would keep your oil pores smaller, because they wouldn't have to open up to produce moisture for you.

The male host did actually ask a pretty good question at one point about acne. He said for a woman who had a pretty bad case of acne to pack on the foundation, trying to hide it, really didn't seem like a good idea to him. It didn't hide it at all, but only made it look worse in his opinion. The artist was in total agreement and said that it even makes the acne worse. And she stressed the importance of using a clean disposable sponge when applying the foundation, especially when you have acne.

So dear listeners, I've shared the knowledge I learned this morning. I'm sure the men are very interested in this post, but hey, maybe they will get a little insight into what a woman is thinking regarding makeup. I'm sure most of our husbands would tell us we are beautiful without any on at all. And they should. It's their job to make us feel beautiful.