With aging comes new perspective. Follow me with my daily journey and life as an artist and crafter.
This is my first post. A little about me. I am a senior citizen and at 68 while my body may be aging, I still love to try new things and experience all that life has to offer. My loves in life are my family, photography, art, crafts, camping, music and any other mischief I can get into at my age and get away with it.
I am a nut for cloud formations. As an artist I try to make anything look good. Being artistic brings out something in me that nothing else does. This is just the beginning so I hope you will keep coming back to see what I am into.
If it were possible to receive an Academy Awards for the number of times your heart has been broken, that might would be me. Despite the disappointments and disrespect, I pick up my heart up and continue on this life’s journey, realizing it’s not me it’s the time we are living in.
While I get this is a different generation, I miss the strong family ties I grew up with. Yesterday, my first great-grandchild was born. This is a child I may never see because I have not seen his father in more than a dozen years. I also do not have a connection with my other four grandchildren because they live out of state. When I lived out of state, I called home routinely and came home when I could. Not this generation. This generation takes the phrase “out of sight out of mind” literally!
Despite it all, I am still hopeful that, at some point, these family ties will start to mend. Grandparents and Great Grandparents do add value to the family unit. I loved my grandparents and, on occasion, visited my great-grandmother. My time with this older generation provided knowledge I would never have gained otherwise.
I sometimes anger when other women talk about what a burden their grandchildren are or wish they wouldn’t come over so often. I interrupt their conversation to tell them how lucky they are and how I would be grateful to have that connection. They lower their heads and usually don’t say anything else.
If you have strong ties with your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, be grateful! Don’t let another minute go by that you don’t let them know you appreciate them.
While I can’t change my family dynamics at this time, I certainly hope I can change someone else’s!
Hug someone today. It’s not harmful to your health but can be healthy for your heart.
Don’t forget to like, share, and follow. Have a great day.
Some people call them God Winks, I just call them God Moments. You know what I’m talking about, those unexplained moments when just the right thing happens at the particular time that it I’s needed. It is no accident.
In this video by Conner Smith, he talks about those God Moments.
Cherish these moments, don’t question them just accept the beauty of God’s work. Don’t be mislead by evil when God is just a fingertip away.
The Heavenly Father knows when we need these little moments to uplift us, to reassure our faith. There are a number of passages in the Bible that mention things God did in just a moment.
It doesn’t take an hour or a day to honor God, just give him at least a moment out of your day to honor him.
For some artists, they are easily inspired. For me, that is not the case. Typically, I paint from photographs or prints like calendar prints. This painting I just did impromptu as a tribute to Native American women.
I have always admired Native American women because of their dedication to family and their artesian skills. This is a brief look into how I built this painting.
Building the background.
You can see I did a tentative sketch on the canvas. I always build my painting in layers, starting with the background and bringing it forward.
Filling in the blanks.
After I have put the first coat on the background, I start on the larger areas of the primary image. Laying in shadows and highlights as you go helps save time.
Details!
What makes a painting work or not work is the details. Here, I added detailed work on the shawl fringe, skirt, and boots. The background also got dome details with a few river Rick’s and grassy patches.
You don’t have to rush a painting. Enjoy the strokes.
I don’t just do needlework/crafts, I really love to design my own. While I have designed quilts, crochet and knitting projects, my real passion is designing cross stitch patterns. More and more I am getting into the design phase as I have time and creating the actual patterns.
I actually thought about teaching classes but that might tie up too much time as I have lots of interests. Basically, I think the love of design stems from the fact I am very analytical and love to disect things. One of my biggest pet peeves is to start a pattern that I have purchased only to find the pattern was not written correctly and have to sit down and make the corrections to it so it did work. With cross stitch that doesn’t happen too often, but I have a history as a photographer so designing cross stitch designs just came naturally.
I am currently posting some of my designs on payhip.com but will also try to list some in the future on Ralvery as well. If you have not tried counted cross stitch as it is very relaxing and can create beautiful pieces of art.
If you are new to Facebook Marketplace, it may not be quite the opportunity you might think.
Buyers beware. Make sure you look at any and all pictures of the product BEFORE contacting the seller. If there are none, then you need to contact the seller and request them. While waiting for a response back from the seller, check out their profile. If there is no information, you might not want to go any further because scammers are not going to post any valid information. If the seller refuses to post pictures, this also is a clears signs that it does not exit and is probably a scam.
As a seller, I have had some good buyers that follow the rules and complete sales, but more often, I get the annoying “lookers” that have no intention of buying anything. If this is you move on, do not take up my valuable time with endless questions and never complete a sale. Simply say, “I have changed my mind, it’s doesn’t meet my needs,” but have the decency to be courteous.
If I inquire about an item but don’t agree with their price I will probably tell them that but if I am still interested I will make them an offer that is more affordable for me but still fair for the seller.
As a seller, caring about your customers will put you on a buyer’s “follow” list for future purchases.
The bottom line is to treat people the way you want to be treated, personally, and in business.
While we are still having a few cool days, it is so refreshing to get outside and enjoy the beauty of spring.
Last weekend, we ventured out to the catfish pond to walk the dog.
Today’s outing took us to one of our favorite restaurants in Goldsboro, Kathy’s Kitchen, for breakfast. We left there and just rode through the countryside and stopped at a few yard sales along the way.
After arriving back home, I took these shots of the apple tree in my back yard.
When asked by the Disciples how to pray, Jesus responded to them with the Lord’s Prayer. It was heartfelt and spiritual. He knew what to say to His Father. He didn’t hesitate or stumble with his words.
A lot of people grew up like I did and were taught to pray at bedtime and at church. I say to you, pray daily and often. I pray in bed, in the shower, on the toilet, and particularly when I am out walking.
Some people like the Disciples question what to say. He is your Heavenly Father just talk to him like a father! I often stumble if I am praying for or with someone or a group, but in private, I just spill out my heart to him.
The value in prayer is limitless! To Him All things are important. It doesn’t have to be polished. It’s a conversation. Jesus listens to every word that is spoken. He hears your cries and your joy.
My walks with Jesus are particularly fulfilling as it is an opportunity to have that conversation and enjoy the beauty of his creation.
Here’s a conversation in song…
Pray in a way that is comfortable and compassionate. Our world needs prayer now more than ever.
Have that conversation today and every day.
Don’t forget to like, share, and follow. Have a blessed day.
Forgive me, my followers, for my lack of posts. Lately, it seems life has been busier than usual. Even my crafting has taken a hit.
Do you ever feel like that? That if you have to add one more thing to your calendar, you will just scream! Well, go ahead, scream!
My problem is I am a bit of a perfectionist. I was never one of those “list” kind of people, but as I age, I find that making that little list will keep me out of hot water. I even have a reminder on my phone for blogging, which lately I am ashamed to say had to take a back seat to more pressing matters.
We are living in a world full of distractions. It is sometimes okay to put the brakes on and reorganize your activities. My office is usually my place to hang out. Even my dog knows that if he comes into my office, he needs to just “chill.”
That being said, life goes on, and I am going to “pencil in” more time for myself to offset those hectic days. In the future, there will be more trips, more art, more crafting, and more of all the things I love.
I was enjoying life until a few days when that suddenly changed. Like most days, I was on my desktop computer on the internet on Pinterest, of all places, when my computer suddenly locked up and I was seeing a message on my screen telling me to call a specific number. In the background was a verbal message that my system had been attacked by a Trojan virus. I started to just cut it off, but unfortunately, in a panic, I called the number.
The conversation with the voice at the other end of the line seemed like a typical tech support conversation, including the request to download software on my computer so he could assist. I watched as it went through all the files on my computer, and I still thought this was a Microsoft tech as that was how he identified himself. The “virus” supposedly attacked my bank and my phone. He then asked me to log into my bank account. When I asked him why his demeanor changed and he became more threatening. Regrettably, I logged into my bank account and saw everything was okay and immediately logged out. It wasn’t until he asked if I had any other bank accounts that I knew I was talking to a hacker and not a Microsoft tech. When I told him “no,” he got angry and hung up.
I ran to where my husband was and told him we needed to get to the bank right away. I started taking steps to secure my finances. My banker reassured me that everything would be okay even though it didn’t seem that way at the moment.
It has taken me days of phone calls and taking other security measures. By this time, even though I felt I had taken all the appropriate measures to combat any further problems, I had this inconsolable sense of guilt because I had done this to myself!
After some research, I found I had been the victim of the Mictosoft scam. I contacted my internet security group that provided my software, and they scanned my computer and didn’t find anything, but he advised me not to use it for online banking or bill paying. To ease my mind, I went out and purchased another computer.
If you find your system under attack, simply shut it down. The malware is designed to attack the browser. If I had simply shut my system down and restarted, I would have saved myself a lot of grief.
While my identity lies somewhat in limbo, I refuse to let a techy beast interrupt my life any further. I certainly have learned a painful lesson to not take anything at face value.
I most likely will be paying my bills the old-fashioned way now, but it will be worth it. While most of us have an “online life”, you should take precaution: change your passwords routinely, check your credit reports often (Credit Karma does not charge), stick to well known sites, update your security software.
I will move on and recover from this. Hope this helps you all think more securely.
Friday morning, my sister and I decided to venture out on a quick overnight excursion. Heading northwest from our location, our first stop as at Old Historic Stagville.
Through My Eyes 