Work Hard, Play Hard

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When my kids were growing up, I always emphasized how hard work was the work ethic that was important.  I also emphasized if you work hard, you have to play hard.   This offsets the exhaustion of working hard.  I love that philosophy, and my kids have this as their work ethic to this day.

It also came to my attention that laughter is the best medicine!   We are a family full of laughter, love, and hard work.  My grandchildren are being raised with the same philosophy, and they work very hard in school, get good grades, and actually look forward to going to school each day.  Boy, have things changed.  My grandkids all go to schools where the teachers don’t just stand and teach or lecture, they actually dress what they are teaching, getting the kids engaged.  That is different from when I went to school, with the philosophy that you sit down, shut up, and learn from a lecture, or chalk board explanation.  We don’t all learn the same way, and it wasn’t always a snap to get a good grade.

When my husband Les turned the calendar over and this Proverb was staring us in the face, it made me smile.  After all, this has been a constant in our home for years.  To see it on the front of our calendar helped me know my feelings were correct.

I copied this from our calendar, and I hope it  will ring true with you as well.

Thank you for stopping by to see what Stone Soup is up to.  See you soon.

 

 

 

Hurricane Harvey Rescue

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IMG_0186.jpgMy oldest granddaughter Sarah, rescued another kitty while riding out Hurricane Harvey.  Talk about the luck of the draw, Sarah moved to Houston just a couple of months prior to the hurricane.   She was much luckier than so many people, as she was not on the first floor of her building.   She is a survivor by nature,  and managed to live off of her pantry, and freezer.   I am so proud of her tenacity!

How lucky was this kitty?  They found each other, and somehow many of us  need to rescue something fuzzy to keep us grounded!  So far all my grandchildren are the same.  Loving, compassionate, and kind!

Thank you for visiting Stone Soup, see you next time….

Timmy-ta-Rat

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This is what happens when you are standing at a reptile store when someone just happens to drop off a pet rat.  My granddaughter Sage had to rescue it so it wasn’t used for food.

She had to save his life, and that is my sweet Sage. All my grandkids are  savers of critters. And critters they have.   After convincing her dad that the rat needed  saving, she went back to the reptile store to get him. Now he lives in a wonderful terrarium, with all the primo food and love he needs.

Thank you for stopping by to see Stone Soup, see you next time……

Prayer Flags Again

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This flag has been created by Maxine Custer. Maxine has worked on this for about three weeks, and I am amazed at how it started, and where it h as ended.

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On the other hand, my third flag is finished, and I’m planning on at least two more to hang on my patio.

I’m so proud of how my friend is creating, and to the extent she is creating, it makes me so grateful for her friendship. Maxine has always been generous in sharing her creativity with everyone, and I’ve learned so many things from her.

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Thank you for visiting Stone Soup, see you later.

Heat Lazy Part 2

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This week is considerably cooler, even the humidity isn’t so bad. The air is still on, and we are still glued to the TV, and reports of the horrendous hurricanes that are happening in the Southeast. Les and I haven’t stopped worrying about everyone since before Harvey hit Houston. Other than donating money, clothes, etc, Les and I can’t participate, or help in other ways. So we watch and listen.
Meanwhile, I need to stay busy, and my busy is usually my art. This week I’ve been working on my third Prayer Flag, and more tags.

Being a Mixed Media artist gives me an excuse to save all kinds of little things.  Bags of things know one else wants or needs, pieces of fabric, anything you can imagine somewhere in my stash of goodies….I have it.   Putting it to work is key in this process.

Heat Lazy!

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While the entire West coast is battling this horrible heat and even worse humidity,  I’m more zapped of energy than usual. We live about ten miles off the Southern California coast, and while you’d think it would be cooler here, it isn’t.  It’s actually hotter here than some places inland. I said some, other places are still miserably hotter.   Here on the coast, we didn’t sign up for this. In fact we pay high prices (not willingly)  to live here with the promise of ocean breezes and cooler weather.   There isn’t any debating it, we’ve been ripped off!  Big time.  As the weather changes everywhere, our weather here in “Paradise ” is also changing.   Paradise isn’t the same as when we moved here.  

It isn’t my style to spend time complaining, and my point isn’t to rag on Mother Nature. What I’m trying to say is this…..  in the heat and humidity my energy level changes. It also changes in the winter when it gets dark early and cold. I have a small window available to be creative on a large scale. Sometimes when an artist is tapped out, they do things like veg out, or do other kinds of art escapes on a much smaller scale. Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of vegging out while my mind is “thinking.”  That’s called replenishing the well.  In this case the well of creative energy.   My creative energy goes way up when I get together with my art sisters, or look at ideas on YouTube or even Pintrist. 

Last weekend it was both hot, and humid.  My husband and I stayed inside to wait out the high temps, and sticky weather. But I can’t just look at the wall, or watch TV all day. Even journaling was difficult to do, so I decided to create in a different way, an even smaller way. 


As I started to work, I slowly began to get lost in inspiration. Little by little small ideas came to mind, and I remembered a box of trinkets just waiting for something to call home. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was starting another tag for my Tag Journal. 

Since I published this by accident, after working for a couple hours cleaning my studio, I’m going to finish it up next week. 

Thank you for visiting Stone Soup, see you soon…..