Hello friends! Hello family! It's been so busy but so rewarding on this end.

Finally,....I have my kitchen painted!!!!! It's been awhile in coming. A little tweaking here and there, but for the most part it's a done deal LOL. No more half wallpaper and half paint. We have a long rectangular cutout between the living room and dining room. Dillard filled in in with mirrors on both sides. Now if I get up in the middle of the night I need to realize there is not an intruder LOL. He framed it very nicely too and it's been painted by him to match the kitchen area. Looks great!!!!!

I am still pressed for time and have much to do today. But before I get back to it I wanted to upload some patriotic tags I made for you to snag if you want them.

I wish everyone a most happy 4th of July!!!!!

I don't think I have ever neglected my site as I have lately. Life has a way of throwing curve balls every now and then and throwing you off your equiibrium. This summer has certianly started out different LOL.

Gene is now in Army boot camp, and I would deeply appreciate any prayers for his success and well being. I think about him daily and wonder how it's all going for him. What he is going through is anything but easy. But I also know he can do it. It's something he has wanted for a very long time. I am very proud of him!!!!

Sidney is away for a few weeks this summer. His Dad decided that after not seeing him for 8 years, that he wanted to come get him. (His Dad lives in Texas). There was only about two days notice, and I was hesitant. Sidney however, was on Cloud Nine. He really wanted to go. If I had said no, he would have resented it now and probably even more down the road. SO I let him go. It was a disaster. He didn't get to spend time with his Dad like we all thought, and ended up being at his half sister's house. Don't get me wrong. She loves him dearly. She has really missed him and loved having him there. But you know how dysfunctional families seem to leave that legacy to following generations? Seems her and her boyfriend, have knock down drag out fights, and had one while Sidney was there. (Good thing he doesn't live there and that they are not married). Whoa!!!! Sidney is definitely not used to that. The name calling, the physical punches,.....and I wanted to put him on a plane right away to bring him home. He's never seen such a thing, and it really unsettled him. But his other sister (my daughter), drove up from San Antonio, picked him up and took him with her. He is having the time of his life!!!!! He is getting to see and do things he wouldn't have other wise enjoyed. Needless to say, this summer will be one he will never forget!!!!

Nor will I. I was not prepared for Sidney to be gone for most of the summer, so soon after Gene left the nest LOL. It's been strange not having anyone here but us two, and as days pass it's actually getting harder, not better. I miss him! LOL

But he will come home in plenty of time to get his school clothes, and other needs filled before starting school in the late summer. (I can't say in the Fall anymore, as school now starts in the first week of August). I know he is having a blast, and he hadn't seen his older sissy in a few years. He decided I was to keep his birthday gifts here for when he returns, rather than mailing them to him. His birthday is July 6th. So he will have more surprises waiting for him when he gets here. And I don't know how she did it, but she talked Sidney into buying some shorts LOL. I tried several times to have him agree to me buying him some shorts for the summer. He would have none of it. But then he did that every year, then as summer got hotter, would relent and wear shorts. She took him shopping, and he picked out some cute shirts and shorts. He even modeled them and she emailed me the pics LOL. She did a good job on the pics. They were precious!!!!! Still don't know how she got him to try them on at the store and then again at home LOL. It was like pulling hen's teeth to get him to do that at home.

We are simply doing our usual daily stuff. We haven't had any rain in two weeks or better. We have to water to garden and flowers every couple of days. Tongiht it got windy, cloudy, and a few faint drops fell before once again, it passed us on by. But I know that our needs will be provided for. God will give us rain when we need it, and if we have to work a little extra to water in between, there's a reson somewhere LOL. Dillard hasn't had to mow though. To mow a yard when there hasn't been any rain, is a sure grass killer. I have looked at many yards around our town, where people mowed anyway, and now they have brown lawns. We have tall weeds in places, and even baby trees sprouting here and there. Doesn't look nice for sure, but it's better to endure that a little longer, than to kill it all by mowing while it's so dry.

We were supposed to have our roof redone Saturday, but we had a 60% chance of rain. We held off as the roof coating needs several hours to cure. If it rains, the coating will simply wash off. It didn't rain. LOL So maybe next weekend. Sigh.

I have been busy learning more on making graphics. The more I learn, the more I realize I have barely begun LOL. Still. it's loads of fun and the groups I am in keep me challenged. If I ever get really good, I will put together my own webset for my own website. In the meantime, I try to use what little I know and create beauty to share with others.

Inventory is next week for our store. Groan. We have been busy getting ready for it. I love being busy!!!!! But I do dread the day of inventory. We absolutely cannot touch anything until inventory has been done for our department, and they have signed off on it. Customers can do whatever they like. If something is out of place, we have to let it lie where it is. (Thats so hard to do) So we basically just have to walk around unless we are assisting customers. But the company they hire, sends in tons of staff, and they swarm the store with their handy dandy little gadgets, counting away. Once all is said and done, then we deal with any discrepancies. Funsies!

Yesterday we harvested two Zucchini and two Yellow squash!!!!!! Today I went ahead and got another squash that wasn't as big, but good sized I thought. The beans have blooms all over them, and the corn is getting full of tassels!!!!! The tomatoe plants are slowing down for lack of rain. Healthy, but slow. I tried an old trick with the tomato plants this year. I mulched around them with several layers of newspaper. I read, that the newspaper would help hold in moisture, and it would also prevent weeds. All mulches promise no weeds, but then invariably some do manage to get through. So far, nothing has been able to come up through the newspaper!!!! It really works. Better than any commercial mulch I have ever used. Talk about recycling LOL. Next year I will use newspaper around everything!!!!! The melons are slow to grow though. Healthy enough, but small and slow. I so hope they come through. This is my first year to try carrots. They seem to be doing well. It's been years since I tasted a full flavored carrot! I want the real thing LOL, not the hybrid, quick grown stuff in the grocery stores. No wonder a lot of people don't like carrots. I wouldn't either if that's the way they really tasted.

Gotta run, but of courese I will share one of many things I have managed to create lately. Be blessed!

Just wanted to pop in this morning, and say how blessed I feel. Many times in life, things don't go the way yu envisioned. But that's okay. For every bad thing that happens, there are a thousand good things to take it's place. I recently did a couple of graphics that reflect the way I feel.

Remember to stop and count your blessings the next time you become negative in your attitude. The more you do this, the easier it will become.

Be blessed!

Good Morning! It's great to be back here. I have sure missed my friends, including my Bravenet friends. I hope all of you women had a great Mother's Day. I know I did!

Mother's Day gifts actually came to me starting last Friday. After working all day, Dillard went out and got me a new freezer!!!! He then unloaded it, got it positioned in the building, and ran the electricity to it!!!!  Awesome! I am so excited to finally have a nice freezer so I can truly take advantage of the garden's bounty this year. Mom has a canner and I will be using that too. I have the feeling more and more people will be following suit as gas prices continue to climb and grocery prices and other items will follow suit.

I found one item that I really wanted for Mother's Day. These cute planters that are shaped like huge coffee cups with attached saucers. They are ceramic and come in an assortment of colors and motifs painted on them.  Dillard suprised me with one, along with a beautiful card. Sidney wanted to get me something for Mother's Day so Dillard took him shopping to pick me out some flowers. Here's the thing. They did not go into cahoots with each other. Each did their own thing. The flowers Sidney picked out, matches the colors in the coffee cup planter! How cool is that. Sidney was impressed by some Lantana. He had never seen a flower that could have two colors ringed around each other like they do. The flowers on the planter are a brownish burgundy with yellow centers. The Lantana has just the reverse. A brownish burgundy on the inside with yellow on the outside. Perfect match! Sidney also picked out another flower that has the same colors, and grows in a trailing fashion. Perfect for my hanging basket by the front feeder. I thought he did extremely well to be 11 years old! I was very touched.

We have a huge storm system over us now. It's been here for a few days, and it's still here. It has kept me from being outside and getting the flowers planted and other outside jobs. Yesterday was downright chilly, and chilly enough to need a little heat on last night.  it's very overcast today with wind that isn't quite as fierce as yesterday. A tree limb from a huge Oak tree blew down into the road from our next door neighbors yard. We were just getting ready to go see Mom and Noe Mae with their Mother's Day gifts. They both love wind chimes and I hand made their cards on the computer. Printed them and then framed them.  On the way there, another tree was lying down across the road at one point. We got out and tried to move it, but it was huge! (Smelled good though as it was a pine tree). We ended up being able to go around it as Dillard managed to get some of the branches removed from it. Mom had cooked a big meal when we got there, complete with corn, cormbread, fried green tomatoes, white beans, mashed potatoes and a yummy meat dish with gravy. It was awesome! She also had a dreamy strawberry cake with real strawberries for dessert. I mananged to eat a small slice of cake before we left.

Dillard was dreading having to work on the tree from the neighbor's yard, but it seems the county had come along and removed it from the road. He will still need to get out his chain saw and cut up the rest for firewood. What a shame that beautiful Oak tree suffered the damage it did. The chances of it staying up long term are slim now. It will probably all have to come down at some point. How fortunate that it didn't go towards the nearby house, but fell the opposite way instead!  I really thought that at some point we would lose power from a line coming down up the mountain. But we never did. In town the police had a street blocked off. We could see where a main line had come down and was laying in the street. I hope they were able to get it repaired quickly. It's no fun to be without power.

Sometime today I should be receiving the equipment for needed for satellite internet. Friday they will be here to do the install!!!!! I am so excited! When the wind kicks up and it rains, my dial up bogs down so that I can't even get a webpage to load. It takes a long time to do the simplest things. I cannot even watch video clips online.

A big thanks to Donna for the greatest emails! I got one such today with beautiful scenery photos. Donna, I saved them all to use in my graphics program LOL. I will make one just for Donna and send it to her with her name on it. And that reminds me. I have long wanted to pass this tip along, but never seemed to remember to do so. This email from Donna was a perfect example. While busy right clicking and saving those beautiful images, I noticed I wasn't seeing them in my folder. Once I was done I reopened my folder and all that was showing was an icon. A click on the icon brought up the Open With window. The one that asks what program you want to use to open the picture. I chose Irfanview. If you don't know about Irfanview, it is a wonderful free utility that handles pics and videos and even music! It loads very fast and takes very little memory. I have used this nifty little utility for several years now. When you want to open something on the fly, without having to load a big graphics program or photo editor, Irfanview is for you!!!!! So I chose Irfanview to open the picture. Of course I received the warning that the file had an incorrect file name and did I want it to rename it? Yes. It did so immediately and voila! The picture was now showing. (These are all jpgs by the way). It was that quick and that easy. So if you have problems being able to save graphics out of emails, Irfanview is your quick fix. You can also do some image tweaking in Irfanview but not like you can in a more robust program. Irfanview is meant to be a quick look at photos and videos and music. There are all sorts of free plug ins that you can download to view Quicktime and other files. I applaud the genius behond this free utility. And they don't charge a red cent for this great program. Donations willingly accepted if you would like but you are never nagged while using the program. You can go here to read about it and if you want, a handy download link is available on the page as well.

In one of my groups, a very creative lady did her tutorial for the week. But she used a picture she took herself. She grows a cactus that only flowers at night, and only for a few hours. It dies as soon as the sun rises. This woman stayed up all night just to photograph it!!!! Amazing and what dedication! The resulting graphic was drop dead gorgeous!!! I have emailed her for permission to post her work here with her name. I don't know if she will let me or not, but I had to rave about it. If I do get the go ahead, I will post it here right away for your enjoyment as well. She could have scoured the internet for a free graphic to use, but she didn't. What she created was breath taking and I marvel at her dedication. People like that give me renewed inspiration and committment.

I wish a great week for each of you! Time to run and get ready to pick up Sidney at school for his dentist appointment. He has had some jaw pain the last few days. He had lost a molar, and I don't know if a piece might have been left, so we are getting him checked out and having his teeth cleaned while we are there. He doesn't seem to have any type of infection. No swelling or feeling of heat in the jaw. Still, we need to know what is causing him the pain. While it's great to have pain killers like ibuprofen, I avoid them if at all possible. The side effects are not nice. He has not had any for over twenty four hours. Since ibuprofen is a blood thinner, it would not be good to have it in his system when going to the dentist. It also deteriorates the joints in time. Really not good! And ibuprofen can affect the kidneys as well. (Tylenol is hard on the liver).

Be blessed!

This is one I did recently from scratch. I transformed the original image into a pencil drawing and then added the borders and colors and text. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.

What an awesome day today has been. Despite only about 4 hours of sleep and before all is said and done, working 9 days straight without any time off LOL.

I was up very early this morning, (didn't wanna be) LOL, and Dillard and I went out for breakfast. I don't know if we have ever done so or not. If so it's been that long ago! Then we went shopping for Mother's Day gifts and Grandma's birthday tommorrow. A quick stop by the health food store and back home again.

My Clematis has numerours huge blue blooms with more buds still forming!!! All the baby trees are flourishing, the flowers are getting a good start on the season, and Sidney's newly planted items should show some signs in the next few days. It's been a few days since the rain last came, but it's due back in tonight. Yippee!!!

Yesterday was Sidney's field trip to Dollywood. I haven't had a chance to really talk to him about it yet, but I know he had fun. He could barely talk this morning LOL.

Things are going really well here, and I promise to be back with some more sigtags or just pics that you can snag and share. I just did a really pretty one with Dogwoods. The only problem is reducing the file size to upload. When I do that you won't be able to read the story of the Dogwood which is in the middle of the framed picture.

Gotta run again. Be blessed and may you have a wonderful week!!!!

I know it hasn't been a whole week since my Maple trees were starting to show leaves just a bit. So where did all those big leaves come from so fast?  LOL The sun dappling through the leaves is a sight I relish! We have been blessed with lots of rain in the last 24 hours. We may get more tonight, but the rest of the week should see sunshine. It'll be rather cool tonight, with frost expected tomorrow night. Must be Blackberry Winter. We had the Dogwood Winter a couple of weeks ago. I bet I see Blackberry blooms later this week. And then no more "winters" LOL. Just pure Spring weather all the way.

Sidney and I planted some seeds today. I had some seeds that were impregnanted into some Spongebob cards, handed out to whoemever wanted them. And then I found some seeds on other cards from two years ago when the Jungle Book DVD was being re-released. So he planted a couple of them, as well as some Sunflower seeds from a WalMart gift card. (We have several gift cards that come with seeds. There is a Baby's Breath and Poppy as well).

The Bluebirds lost their fight for the Birdhouse, and I haven't identified the new tenants yet. Dark, with white underbellies. She has been busy collecting twigs and disappearing into the house. We have so enjoyed watching them, and will continue to enjoy them as a new brood is raised. In the meantime I will find out what bird they are and let you know too. My binoculars are out of the closet again, and Sidney enjoyed using them today. I did see my Indigo Bunting today!!!  Man, what I would give to get my own photos! And if the Buntings are back, there should be a Red-Breasted Grosbeak nearby too. I so look forward to this time of the year as those birds migrate through. I don't get to see them any other time, and they are only here for a week or two.

I have managed to get a lot of things cleaned out of the storage building, but still have more to go LOL. Still it's a start, and I feel better knowing a lot of junk is gone.  Now to get a bookcase into the other bedroom and get ready to transfer the PC in there. I am slowly getting closets and other areas cleaned out. and it's a great feeling. 

The boys are playing again. Dillard and Art. Each using loud noise making devices back and forth at each other. Here comes the megaphone with freshly charged batteries. The siren got Art to blowing the truck horn, and then his wife's car horn. Not sure what his next move will be after the ear splitting sounds from the megaphone are launched his way. Dillard has already sent some fireworks their way. When it gets dark tonight, they'll be spotlighting each other LOL.  (These are men in their 50's), who will never completely grow up. But also best buds who are there for each other.

And before I sign off for today, I thought I would upload a couple more sig tags I made recently. Let me know if you would like one and what name you would like put on it.  I won't be able to get here for a while. My schedule is still wild in it's fluctuations. My days off are different next week, once again, and once again, they are being split up. Sigh. It's temporary but a few weeks of this has me worn out more than usual.

be blessed!

In the true spirit of giving, which is part of those who are addicted to PSP, I have decided to offer tags to whoever wants them. I will put whatever name you wish on them. Please limit two names per request. You can email me your request at moonifa@NOSPAMgmail.com. (Just be sure to take out the NO SPAM part).

Here is one such tag I have done. I will post more in time.

be blessed!

many things over the years,...too many to list here, but I have wondered about some of the same things you have wondered about.

Recently, one of my co-workers has been bringing in lateral thinking puzzles for us to solve. They have been a lot of fun as we work our minds to the solutions. But it has also gotten me to think back to some of those persistent questions.

If I had never heard war veterans make these comments, I probably would have never thought about it, but why did the kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Seriously. If they were on suicide missions, then why go to the expense or bother of helmets? At one point I partly guessed the answer. Being determined to strike all the blows they could, they would have wanted to make sure they were kept safe, long enough to fulfill their missions. And that is part of the answer. But the rest is that our pre-conceived notions that they were suicide missions is not totally correct.

While they were willing to give their lives for their cause, it was hoped that many pilots would actually be able to return home safe. They were not being sent out with their death warrants already signed. If it meant their death to fulfill their mission, then they did so. But if they could come home in one piece, they were expected to. Finding that out actually made me feel better. They were "humanized" in my eyes, and actually it's the same for our culture. We have had countless men and women who have given their lives in order to protect our freedoms. But not a one of them wouldn't have rathered that they could protect our freedoms and still be able to return home. Different, but the same. As all of us are on this planet.

On another note, I wonder a lot, why things are the way they are in the retail world. Display space is valuable. Packaging is designed to get the most out of the space possible while turning the biggest profit. A couple of years ago we were finally able to get rid of the plastic frames that encased each CD. It doubled our room for CD's. (It also made our jobs much easier). While they were continually recycled, it created more man hours of work to use them, take them off for customers, box up and ship back the used ones,..... Now I am seeing the trend of smaller packaging yet, with cardboard sleeves that are just as adequate without all the bulk of jewel cases. They appear to be less fragile than the plastic cases. I can't tell you how many times I have had to send back cracked and broken CD cases.

But I have often wondered why the cases for CD's, DVD's, and VHS tapes were the size they were. I know now the logistics behind it. Originally when the music industry had vinyl albums, the display cases were designed accordingly. As CD's came into being, the retailers needed a way to still use the current fixtures. (They are anything but cheap). So the CD cases were designed to be a little less than half the width of the old albums. All retailers had to do was put in a divider in the space, and voila! Double the inventory in the old spaces.

Much the same can be said as to why DVD cases are larger than CD cases. The original VHS was a certain length. As DVD's came into use, once again retailers were faced with still needing to use the old fixtures. While DVD cases are much thinner than the old VHS tapes, the length is the same.

Pretty cool huh? LOL Well it was something I wanted to pass on in case you too have ever wondered about why things are done the way they are. Sometimes it can be hard to understand. But how nice to have the answers!

Here are some other things you may have wondered about:

Why do women’s clothes button from the left, while men’s button from the right?
Why are gas caps on the driver’s side of some cars, but the passenger side of others?
Why do taxi drivers stop working early on rainy days?
Why are whales in danger of extinction, but not chickens?
Why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are in round ones?
Why don’t more people wear shoes with Velcro fasteners?

Maybe you can think of things that you too have wondered about. And if you are reading this, you have internet access. Ah the wonderful internet where knowledge is only a click or search away.

The weekend is getting here. I hope each of you have a wonderful few days off. I will be working, but no matter. I am blessed to have a job, to be able to pay the bills, and for that I am grateful. Lord willing I will be back next week. Be blessed!

Howdy!!!! I hope wherever you are, that the morning is a beutiful sunny morning for you. Some of my Northern friends are still dealing with the aftermath of snow and cold days, but they too are starting to enjoy the beginnings of Spring. One friend sent me beautiful pictures of Anemonies blooming outside her front door. She had me wishing I had some too LOL.

Recently we hung Sidney's bird house up in the tree near the front porch. Dillard hung it so the entrance faced our house, and we have been able to keep an eye on it to see if any birds would like to call it home. Many times it takes a year or more before some bird family decides to move in. We didn't paint it or embellish it in anyway. And wonder of wonders. A bluebird family seems to have decided on it. It's a little soon to know for sure, but a Mama bird was checking it out yesterday morning, while Dad waited on a nearby limb. Never did we expect to see Bluebirds!!!! The house wasn't really designed for Bluebirds in mind. The entrance hole is a little bigger than what Bluebird house plans call for. It's also hanging instead of being anchored to a post. So it really shouldn't have been a consideration for Bluebirds LOL. The male is even now perched on the small rod fastened to the entrance! While a feeder is nearby, they don't eat birdseed. They prefer insects or meal worms. How awesome if they decide to make it their home! If it works out, I will be able to sit on the front porch with my camera and get some shots. Right now it looks like two pairs of birds are now fighting over the house!!!! They are chasing each other around the yard and twittering noisily. I also noticed a cowbird near the feeder. I will have to keep a close eye on them. Cowbirds do nto build a nest. Ever. They wait until another bird has a nest with eggs, knock those out of the nest, and lay their own to be raised by the other birds. They are very parasitic in nature, and I don't like them at all.

Some of my newly planted seeds are showing. I decided to try carrots and Israeli Melons this year. They are finally showing!!!! No sign of the tomato seeds yet, but if the birds didn't get them they should be showing soon.

I have been busy learning a lot about using PSP and making sigtags. My time is so limited and I have to choose whether to maintain my sites, or be creative LOL. So far PSP has been winning! So once again, I am seriously thinking about deleting this site and my other site at Blogger.

I hope all goes well for each and everyone of you. Be blessed and I will try to get back soon. I have joined yet a thrid group involved in PSP. So my time here will be even shorter than it already is.

Very quickly I wanted to pop in and wish everyone a great day!!!!! I have had the last two days off, and while it rained both days, I was able to get out in my yard and see how the new Spring growth was thriving!!!!

My Clematis is growing even taller this year, and all the baby trees are budding and show good health. So I am excited. My Prarie Fire Crabapple Tree really bloomed out this year and is drop dead gorgeous. I am already excited about next Spring when the trees will have mroe size and should bloom for the first time.

My herb garden surprised me by new growth of all the herbs including the Rosemary!!!!! I honestly did not think it would come back on it's own after winter. But it did, and I have four of them coming up. The scent is wonderful!!!!!

I haven't been here much as I have been busy with some really deep Spring Cleaning. I have already gotten rid of loads of stuff, and more to follow LOL. Now to tackle the storage building LOL. I dread it but yet look forward to it if that makes any sense.

Sidney is wanting to go fishing, so I am making plans to get him the basics that he will need. Soon the weather will be dry enough to go down to the lake.

And of course I am still busy with PSP. I am so addicted to that program! I have managed to do some more sig tags from various tuts on the internet. I will upload one of them here for all of you. It was made with you in mind.

Take care and I hope to have some good news soon.