A Strange Clouded Sky

It was Tuesday and my hubby was bored. Unable to work in his garage or out in the yard and basically limited to either computer work, reading or pacing back and forth in boredom he suddenly managed to notice things that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. No I'm not talking about the dust bunnies that would make a rare appearance whenever the air handler would kick on or the dust on the coffee table or the smudges on the living room windows. John would peek out side and mention that the robins were in the yard or a flock of egrets or that the sky was filled with strange clouds. Clouds ? Strange ? Out of curiosity I took a glimpse for myself.

Photo above...Clouds like little diamond shaped tufts of quilt batting. Notice the small section of our daytime moon peeking through the clouds ?

Hm, strange indeed. Almost like the sky was quilted, little poufs of clouds surround in blue and not just a small section of sky but a rather large expanse...like a huge quilt thrown across the
heaven.

Photos above...A puffy quilt of a sky.

Photo below...And on to the horizon.

It was interesting so I grabbed my dinky little point and click camera and attempted to capture the phenomena.


Wish I could say it was a harbinger of spring and warmer weather but unfortunately there was frost on our lawn this Friday morning. Will winter ever cease ?

Updating From Monday...

John's surgery went well yesterday, though it was disheartening to hear his lab biopsy showed that, along with the basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer was also present in the affected tissue area. This resulted in a more extensive and deeper surgery than we had anticipated and necessitated the taking of a skin graft from just in front of John's right ear. Amazingly he is not feeling any pain and hasn't had to resort to taking any pain medication, not even Tylenol. We're not sure if perhaps this pain numbing could be a lingering effect from the anesthesia or if he has just been very blessed. Either way we are most grateful.

Now if I can just get him to take it easy and not over do things. At this moment he is bored and has been pacing the house looking for something to do, he never was one to just sit idle and relax. Presently I feel reminiscent of the days when one of my children were sent home from school sick, only they weren't so ill that they wanted to lay in bed and sleep, instead they wanted to play with their toys or run about the house.

I wish to thank all of you for your sweet thoughts, kind words, and well wishes and as soon as things return to some semblance of normalcy I will return to my more typical blog posts.
Until then I send my gratitude and fondest regards to each of you.

Monday's Distraction...

Today I'm distracted and can't concentrate on blogging.

My hubby has had several precancerous skin lesions removed over the past few years and therefore he sees his dermatologist frequently to keep an eye on things. About 2 weeks ago he went in for his biannual skin check up and the doctor found something suspicious, a biopsy was taken. The lab results came back with that dreaded C word...cancer. John's dermatologist recommended a special surgeon as the cancerous growth is on the bridge of his nose, making it important that the surgery is done carefully so as not to badly disfigure this prominent facial feature.

Last week John consulted with this specialist and has an appointment for surgery today. Cancer is always a scary word however the surgeon assures us that, if one has to get cancer, basal cell skin cancer is the best one out there, as it's not aggressive and it's easily treatable. So John goes into this operation very optimistic... he also goes into it very grumpy as he can't eat anything for at least 12 hours before the surgery and when my hubby is hungry he is NOT a happy camper.
Hopefully soon I will be able to concentrate on something other than this surgery and blog about happier and more intriguing subjects.

We Are All Valuable Resources...

Recently I've had the honor of working with a very imaginative and creative Etsian by the name of Ros whose shop, designsbyros , features her handcrafted wire work jewelry.

Photo above...One of Ros's lovely chain and wire worked necklaces. Love the colors in this masterpiece!

Ros was interested in a set of my handcrafted beaded beads that I call, BubbleBeads. Which I will discuss later, now however I wish to focus on Ros. As I mentioned she is a very imaginative young lady and she came up with an amazingly brilliant idea: She would make a pair of her hammered wire, handcrafted earrings with my BubbleBeads and place a link in her etsy shop announcement to my etsy shop and I would place a similar link to her shop and the earrings that she created using my beads. What a lovely win win situation !!! Sometimes the simplest and most effective means of promotion is right in front of us and that is using each other as resources. Each of us are indeed valuable commodities and excellent resources for both information and promotion.

Photo above...Ros's hand hammered wire holds my lemony yellow BubbleBeads making for a sweet and fun pair of dangly earrings.
Photo below...My BubbleBeads. These are in pale lemony yellow but I also have some in pale light green.

Photo below, and another view...

The design of the BubbleBeads is not of my origin. I'm sure anyone can go online and find many different version of this little bead, unfortunately the instructions I came across must have decided that this tiny piece of art would only be looked at, never worn, never handled. My first attempts at creating my first few beaded beads were less than stellar...the beads fell apart almost instantly. I understood why but had tried to have faith in the instructions which were...shock and disbelief...WRONG !!! Anyway I adapted and did what was necessary to create a structured and strong beaded BubbleBead. I love them and when they are topped with a jaunty Bali sterling silver bead cap...well what can I say but that they are adorable.

Photo below...Shows different beads capped by beautiful Bali sterling silver bead caps. These lovely caps always remind me of flowers and the dangles pictured below feels like a garden of fantasy flowers.

Ultimately I think we should all keep in mind the high value that each of us has and the vast potential that we can offer one another. Ros of designsbyros I thank you for shining that light my way. :)

TO VISIT DESIGNSBYROS CLICK ON ANY OF HER LINKS ABOVE OR CLICK HERE: http://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbyros

Monday Warmed Over Left-Overs...

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day. My own Dearest Heart presented me with a valentine box of chocolates and a bag of Harry & David's Almond Cashew Moose Munch. If you've never had their Moose Munch...well it is almost to die for, really good snacking ! :) And then topped of the day by taking me out to dinner...any meal that I don't have to cook is a real present indeed.

Since today is going to be one of those hectic days for me, I'm keeping my post short and sweet and will post some photos that I had taken this past summer, sort of like warmed over left-overs. We were out on the keys and ran across a flock of feral peacocks, that is if peacock groups are called a flock. Peacocks seem to thrive in the wild in southern Florida. I noticed that these birds didn't have their famous long tail plumage and not sure if they had gone through a molt or if these were of a different species ?

BE MINE VALENTINE !

Today I'm going off in a different direction...so what else is new ? This comes as no surprise for those of you who are familiar with my blog and my tendencies to do a pinch of this and a dab of that. For those who are not, I beg you allow me my moments of schizophrenia. I dedicate this blog to Valentine's Day and to all those who are in love, have been in love, know Love's ups and downs and know how capricious love can be.

Picture above...my doodles done in pencil and color pencils.

Valentine's Remorse...

Valentine's Day, how I wish it were dead
As the thought of it all still fills me with dread.
How could I have been so utterly stupid
To place my fate on a misfit like cupid.

Sure his arrow was dull and his aim pretty bad
But he missed it entirely and that's really sad.
He said he had flinched, had a speck in his eye,
Thought he was on target and ... well he wouldn't lie.
But something had happen that Valentine's Day
His arrow went haywire, went really astray.

As I walked through the park in the hour of lunch
I had this strange feeling ... it was only a hunch.
That the man of my dreams, Mr. Right would be there
And together we'd make such a wonderful pair.

Then there on a bench in the shade of a tree
Sat tall dark and handsome ... He was looking at me!
He was all that I'd hoped for this Adonis so fine
With help from dear Cupid he could have been mine.

But Cupid had faltered, his arrow went long
It missed Mr. Right ... it hit Totally Wrong.
Not tall, dark and handsome that made my heart flutter
I got short, squat and gruesome ... still makes me shutter.

For just past the bench on the trunk of the tree
Not hidden from sight but still hard to see.
A target so small, so odd and so strange
was not beyond Cupid's arrows range.

What Cupid's arrow had hit on that log
Was a tiny wee fellow, a little Green Frog !

Picture above...color pencil sketch by me of a whimsical, love smitten frog.

Well as I forewarned you, I was going in a different direction. Some of you may like it, some may hate it and probably a lot won't have a clue as to just what to make of it. LOL

May you all have a very special someone to make your Valentine's Day extra special.

5 OF THE BEST SMALL BUSINESS/SMALL BUDGET MARKETING IDEAS!

Image above is a photo of a photo taken from Overnight Prints.com ,therefore the poor quality. This was in their article on Small Business Marketing Ideas. In case you're wondering, yes those are post it notes all over that little car.

When I opened my email folder this morning I was greeted by a title that we can all relate to; "Small Budget? Read Our 5 Creative Marketing Ideas " ! Well how could I NOT ? The article is fresh and highly imaginative and I am passing it on to you...

5 OF THE BEST SMALL BUSINESS/SMALL BUDGET MARKETING IDEAS!

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Does What We Eat Affect Us ?

Can the foods we eat affect how we feel ? Interesting concept, yet so fundamental, simplistic and an intricate part of our lives, that we probably never give it much thought.
One must eat to live however what we eat may well be relative to how we feel; impacting the very quality of our lives.

Photo above taken inside of one of my favorite grocery stores. The Fresh Market's tempting garden of Eden, its lush produce section.

Recently I ran across an interesting blog by Cheryl Grace regarding how certain foods can effect our body chemistry, Grace's blog also features informative highlights of how Feng Shui affects the energy of spaces around us and ultimately affects us personally. Anything from lethargy, to hot flashes may well be the effects from foods that we've consumed.

Cheryl Grace is a professional Feng Shui consultant, a nationally certified Interior Refiner and also a very talented watercolor artist whose Feng Shui designs appear in artwork, accessories and jewelry under the trademark Living Art® Feng Shui. I strongly encourage you to check out Grace's blog, it is both insightful and well written. Her helpful advice and suggestions could well make us feel better, look better and create balance and positive energies in our environment that could well make our lives more healthy, happy, and prosperous.

Photo below was taken in my local Fresh Market... my favorite specialty grocery store.

With Accolades to Each of You

Recently I was chosen for 2 Blog awards. The first was from Caryln of Chile Cats a delightful and truly insightful blog centering, not just on her life, family and crafts but on her rescue of feral cats. Caryln so graciously and generously bestowed me with the Lemonade Stand award given to bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude.

The next coveted medal of honor was presented to me by T @PoppyPlace of PoppyPlacePDX whose fabulous blog ranks high among many blog reader's list...including my own. Sweet T has bestowed upon me the lovely award of Kreative Blogger and for this I hug her. T, you have my sincerest gratitude.

I thank and bow humbly before these two grand bloggers, whom I feel are like friends to me. Though I relish this prestigious endowment, I with great trepidation must say I am honored, sincerely honored, but in complete honesty find the hardest part of accepting this award is the shear magnitude of trying to find a handful of marvelous blogs to pass the awards on to. All of the blogs I follow are very special to me and to have to bestow just a few and leave the rest would be blasphemous. So to Chile Cats and PoppyPlacePDX I thank you from the very depths of my heart for I can not begin to tell you how touched I am by this enormous compliment, and to all those beautiful bloggers that I follow, I give all my accolations. You are all without a doubt award material. Hip! hip! hurrah!! ... Hip! hip! hurrah!! to each and every one of you.
With love,
Anna

On The Other Side Of The Fence...

Lately the days of winter have been dismal, gray and cold, not shoveling snow cold but cold for us birds that grew up in tropical climates.

Photo above...taken through the window of our house, this snowy egret wades in the water of our neighbor's pond in search of fresh fish.

Photo below...I think he may have spotted something...and then again maybe not as he flew off shortly after the shutter snapped.