Another wonder

Glass-wing Butterflies Live in South America. A butterfly with transparent wings is rare and beautiful. As delicate as finely blown glass, the presence of this rare tropical gem is used by jungle observers as an indication of high habitat quality. Rivaling the refined beauty of a stained glass window, the translucent wings of the Glasswing butterfly shimmer in the sunlight like polished panes of turquoise, orange, green, and red. All things beautiful do not have to be full of color to be noticed. In life, that which is unnoticed has the most power.

A friend sent this to me.........I was just in awe............there are so many things that are out in this world that I don't have clue about............hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did.........

I KNEW it was coming.............

THE TORNADO..........hmmm or maybe a hurricane called Jennifer. Bless my daughter's heart, she is a neat freak..........not just a tidier upper, but a true professional neat freak. There is no clutter, well not for long, in her home...................EXCEPT, for me and my room and my wee little space on the kitchen table, which I KNOW makes her quiver and shake when she has to look at it.............but an entirely different story there.

The "casual being " of the "toy room" has finally been ignored for as long as it could be......she attacked.

She started out with both boys, making piles for "donations to the children who would like these", " throw away" and "for baby Connor". Well let's face it, oldest grandson knew what was going on and he was semi-helpful (he has a tendency to think EVERY item of his, is his most favorite)........but he was doing better than he ever has and I was quite proud of him. Now my little 3 year old companion, well shoot, he had no idea what was going on........he was just thrilled with each and every new "find"

at the bottom of the toy box (which has been removed now and placed in his room).......so not a whole lot of progress has been made. Ok, lunch time, and now the youngest is down, and the armed forces have moved on to new territory.........oldest grandson's room........things haven't been going quite as smoothly there........some of the conversations being held in there...........well I wish I could say that she never heard those words from her mother.............but that would be a big ole' fib........

Now I am not sure when this whole process will be concluded, but I am thinking that Sunday dinner isn't going to be a roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, veggie and homemade apple pie..............nope, think that this is going to be an on going into the evening type of attack

Me, well I haven't helped much........nope, I have grabbed a few things for myself..........like a couple of those squishy wishy stress squeezer thingies that I seem to be addicted to (and seem to hold the record for breaking).......and this absolutely to die for teddy bear that looks like he is made out of mink (faux of course)..........I have added some under the breath comments, a few "no, don't throw that out, we still play with that" and man my giggles and tee hees have gained some looks that even I had to admire...........if I can charge up the camera battery and this is the big one, IF I can remember to do it, I will take snapshots of the finished product.........trust me, it will be spic and span, nipped and tucked, and just plain amazing...............

Hmmmmmm.........

Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.
— Michael Burke

Just a quick in and out today.........I am determined to accomplish "things" today, even if it kills me!!!! I have shared some new bracelets on my site........(.http://www.kindness-counts.net/index.html). Neither are for sale, but were commissioned pieces...........man doesn't that sound la-de-da...............cracks me up!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to get cracking both physically and mentally, I have just sorta let myself s l o w l y drift back into some bad habits............so as of today, a more positive attitude, more laughter, and hopefully I will see more getting accomplished in reality and not just in my head!!!!! Hope today is a good one for everyone.........hey no one commented or offered any sites for bedding..........come on guys I need some help here.......I have searched the major online sources and still not finding what I want..........I sure am open for suggestions. Thanks........................

Today

Today, like many days, I learned something........oh it was something that I have known for a long long long time, but man do I need reminding..........lots of reminding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had taken quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon, doing a "pre-blog" (new work, huh? pre-blog.....it's when i write something up ahead of time and store it, so when I am in a hurry, I can quickly go in and snatch it out and put it on the blog)...........I had collected pictures, changed fonts, changed the color and size of words...........feel'n pretty darn proud of myself, I was......................today...........well today the only thing I could find was the title.............nothing, zilch, nada, the big zero, it wasn't there!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, I was starting to do the slooooow stew kind of thing, thinking poorly of myself (for in my mind - where ever that wanders-----) I HAD SAVED IT........I HAD!!!!! Well apparently not, or it would have been there..........I look over, and there is my youngest grandson, patiently laying out "his" banket, to lie down next to his stuffed animals...........first one corner wasn't right, then when he crawled over the blanket to fix that, the other side crumble up, the middle got wrinkled, but after what seemed like a bazillion attempts, (and in an adult critical mind) it still wasn't completely straight or all corners down, he looked, plopped down and laid with his stuffed animals............all was right in his world. See I know the difference between what is important and what isn't, I do........I just seem to get lost sometimes along the way.............today I learned, a lost blog or a blanket with the corners not all laying flat.........no big deal, world peace wouldn't be put in jeopardy, no lives were at stake..........it was ok..........so maybe today I didn't LEARN something new, but rather had a gentle reminder of what is important and what you let go of..............

Bedding.............

I am in need of new sheets............the ones I have are really old and have truly done their time on my bed............like really done their time. Now since I am sleeping alone, I can have any type of bedding that I want...........sooooooooo, this shabby chic, lacy, ruffles and totally feminine lady wants that type of sheets. Now if you saw me in public, I dress very conservatively. Very few ruffles, shoot no ruffles. I do own and sometimes wear some wedge shoes, but not often...........I am just a plain Jane..........except that I am taking to wearing jewelry again when I can............I do like that glitz and glitter, jingle jangle of baubles. Now back to the bedding. I know that I want more than 250 count.............so that put me in $$$$$$ that has made me have to save up for this adventure. On Tuesday, my daughter and I had a list of things that we wanted to look at and for..............one of the items for me was of course new sheets...........I have two lovely bedspreads already, so I don't need those..........just the sheets. Well I came home empty handed. I looked and looked again and just couldn't find what I wanted..........shoot, maybe it doesn't exsist.........again, "my dream world" . I see a bed made up with multi patterns, you know stripes, flowers, lace, solid............

something that says.........casual and comfortable.......worn and old family used..........ok, again it is

"my dream world" . I am thinking that I might have to plan a trip to one of the outlet malls and drift around in there.........especially at the clearance bin, so I can mix and match..............then again, maybe I will just keep washing the ones I have and continue looking............I haven't started to look on line that much...........my foggy ideas could be online waiting for me to find them..............ooooooooo, I have another quest..........

Do you know of some good online bedding places...........would you like to share?

Sun or moon, which are you?

Which are you, a morning or a night person? I am and can be both. When I was working outside of the home, I was an early bird, just because I liked getting to the office early early to do the paperwork part of my job.............quiet, no one interrupting me. Plus I truly enjoyed the alone time. Now I am living in a house of two early birds and I mean early..........they are up at the crack of dawn.......oh you thought I meant the grandsons........nope, my daughter and sil. They are up and either at the gym or running the neighborhood..........oh man, I am not into that at all........zilch!!!!

I still like my early mornings to get the household things done and out of the way............but I am finding that I do like working at the computer at night time too, as I don't have to share my lap or space with anyone..............not that I don't like sharing my lap, but I just don't have that much room to type and hold at the same time. I find that I do sleep in and I mean sleep in (sometimes as late as 8 a.m. or maybe even 9 if I am not feeling well) on the week-ends. Now if we have an adventure planned, I am up, but not by that horrible invention called clock radio/buzzer machine............yikes.........trust me, I don't like that machine at all.............I think that our bodies should tell us when to rise and shine.............so ok, I live in a "dream world" , but I know it and make adjustments to and for it. So what am I, well I guess I would lean towards the night part of the time and the other half is a sunshine girl ............so as always I am sitting the fence and not sure which box to mark for the correct answer.........maybe this should question should have those wonderful instructions "mark all that apply"......

Cabachon

This is a cabachon ( kaaaab - short a - shon), ok I wasn't being rude, I didn't know how to pronounce this until recently and was rather embarrassed asking how.........I don't know why, I don't think anyone else's questions are silly, but I do feel that way, when I ask about something that seems obvious to everyone else. Please don't panic and turn me off, I promise that this blog isn't going to turn into a jewelry blog, promise, pinky promise, cross my heart promise, Girl Scout promise. I just find things these new things and want to share because I get so excited about them..........and this is one of them. Cabachon. It is a flat backed stone...........hmmmm, let me see if I can find the true description. Here is one:
A highly polished, convex-cut, unfaceted gem.
A convex style of cutting gems.

I am hoping to1 take a class in making these wonder stones/gems into jewelry....I know it won't be an inexpensive project, but oh the wonderful things you can do with them. Many pieces are done with wire/metal.........and I am not ready to venture down that road yet.........want to, but the pocketbook is telling me loud and clear, one step at a time ole' gal. one step at a time!!!!!!!!! I am actually listening to this voice too.........aren't you proud of me??? I'm proud of myself!!!!

Look at this molded cabachon............. isn't it wonderful? Couldn't you see this made into a beautiful pendant? broach? Am i losing you?Hmmmm, let me find some finished pieces....................

Ok, here are a few examples, you can get as complicated and detailed as you would like, or keep it simple......if and when I am able to take a class, I will share my finished project.........oh I bet you can't hardly wait..........tee hee.............

Doors

Hello, I'm back........not rested that is for sure and sadly, my family came back from Hawaii with some sort of crud and my friend found a form of crud here, so now of course I have it too.........it is all in my throat, which of course makes me not want to talk much.............oh whoa is me..........and I am sure happiness to others..........tee hee.

A friend sent me something in an email today and at the end of it was this:

May your troubles be less

Your blessings more

and nothing but happiness come through your door.

I liked that saying........and I thought I would use it today.........of course at first I was going to be

all philosophical and write about all of the doors that open and close in our personal lives............you know that saying about "when God closes one door he opens another"

Then I thought again.........shoot i can't talk out loud much, so might as well think, right? I realized that I like doors..........I do. To me a door can sometimes tell you who or what to expect once it is open. Now sometimes that nasty thing called money or a budget gets in the way and you are stuck with what you have..........or maybe the owners of the door/doors aren't adventurous or crafty.......(shoot, isn't that why they have friends that are..........trust me, use and abuse your crafty friends, most of us like expressing our talents and want to be able to share what talent we were given). Ok, I do. I do know that once I got talking about doors, two came to my mind right away........ a door that has a screen on it. Now the only picture I could find was the one on the top of the page and that is nice. but the ones that I like are the old fashion wooden screen doors...........that slam and bang and have that little latch closure on them............I love those, here is a picture of what I wanted to do to my pantry before I was asked to move in my my kids........

I love it.............(seems like I am 'loving lots of things today, huh?). My little and old double wide was slowly being turned into a cottage place inside and I liked the idea of the screen door on the pantry. I also found that I am drawn to homes/doors with wreaths on them......
I use to have a wreath for each and every holiday..........kept them in an extra closet and just slapped those babies up. Right now, I have a nice metal lace work container with fake tulips in it on the front door here.............bright and cheery......will carry us over through the spring time until we need out Memorial red, white and blue wreath..........which will carry us over until 4th of July.............yup, I like doors, I like the old doors, French doors, always wanted a RED or YELLOW door, double doors, screen doors............add that to my list of things that I am realizing about myself......................

Tis' a blessing to be Irish

Top of the morn'n to all of you.............

It is a blessing to be Irish..........don't know how to explain it, it just is. My heritage has always been emphasized in my family and I have tried to do that with my children, but I think that with each generation that it is losing some of the,hmmmmm, what word do I want to use, losing some of the "uniqueness?".....that's not it either........the "who we are and where we came from".....that's it.

Every Saint Patrick's Day I say a small prayer of thanks to my Great Grammy and Grampa Nyland. Coming to this wonderful land from Ireland with their young children. They worked hard and long hours on an English gentry's manor, she as a house maid and he as a stable/farm hand to earn the money for passage. It must have been both scary and sad to

leave their home, family and all that was familiar and secure to them to start out in a strange and new land that they only knew as "the promised land.' I know that they didn't go through Ellis Island, but landed in Boston. I don't know how or why, but I do have the ship's log with their name on it and someday I will share that with all of you.

So today, have a wonderful and blessed day.......and whether you have rain. snow, winds or overcast skies, carry the mirth and love of the IRISH inside of you and share it with others............

The Alamo

Today we did the downtown part of our little mini vacation..........the most important part for me is that I didn't get us lost........well driving I didn't get us lost. On foot, well that is a totally different story..........I have no sense of direction......I just plow forward and never take a minute to look for landmarks or make a mental note of what store or restaurant we passed........shoot, what difference would it make, I already discussed that the memory part of the daily vitamins aren't working.

We did the river walk first.........we ate at Landrys, a very vice restaurant - - meaning that it wasn't like rainforest cafe, or Hard Rock...........we are outside on the sidewalk so that we could watch the small St Patrick's Day parade, and had yum dilleeeeious mango daiquiris...........and a shrimp po'bo sandwich..........took the boat tour on the river walk and then wandered over to the Alamo. Now I have been there quite a few times and never ever had to stand in line to get inside..........ever. We did today. It was ok though, as it moved quickly and we talked to a family that were from Maryland..............the kids were bored out of their minds............had no idea what the Alamo was, what took place or who Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie were............again another age gap, as I grew up on westerns and Disney's The Alamo movie. I remember the first time I went to the Alamo...............I had tears in my eyes............another place were we fought for freedom............people from all over, not only the United States, but from Europe, were there and fought..............here is a link to a good site if you are interested in reading more....http://www.thealamo.org/main.html.

The last place I wanted to show Karen, was this wonderful old hotel....The Menger (pronounced Mayn ga)....It is from another era..........wonderful and old..........full of grace and grandeur...........here is a partial snapshot of the lobby. Here is one of the dining room..........old world style and grace again...........

Well we are being sooooo good food wise, a bowl of cereal for breakfast, the good lunch and now we are off to either Cold Stone Creamery, Baskin Robbins.........I don't know one of the ice cream places to fill in the dairy part of our dietary needs.........hmmmm I am thinking a big part of my need tonight.

My spring break- Thelma and Louise

My oldest and dearest sister of my heart is coming in this afternoon........she is the only living person that shares all of my history with me......(well except the first 5 years of my life)...so not only are we close, but we know what we both have experienced.........that special and rare sisterhood that you cherish and know that once one of you leaves this world, some huge void will enter your life. Ok, don't mean to sound morbid, but I have come to the age, to realize that true friends are not to be taken for granted.........never ever.

Now my friend is widowed, (but she has also experienced a bad divorce or two also), so neither of us have a husband to worry about when we get together...........you know leaving them at home while we are off having girl time - and YES, even at our ages, we still call it girl time. Now as you know - or I think you do - my family is in Hawaii, so we have the house to ourselves........we can eat, sleep, giggle, cry, share confidences, the whole gambit of emotions that always takes place when we are together.......freely in this big ole' house..........yippeeeeeee!!!

We are going to do the regular tourist things......River Walk, Alamo, Market Square, maybe the mission tour....going to Gruene (pronounced green) and putz around..................but we are also going to take a road trip to Padre Island......................during spring break.................with the college kids................are we nuts................YES!!!! Plus I have never driven there......ever, now I have been there before many years ago, but we are going to do the two "mature" girl trip alone.........trust me, I am sure there will be stories to share about this part of our get together !!!!!

I am not sure how much I will be able to post while she is here...........goodness, each and every time that we put one of us on the plane to go home, we always say " We didn't get to talk about........." (and yes we call each other all of the time, but it's not the same).........so if I have to decide talking with her or writing in my blog................sorrreeeeeeee.

I am in hopes that this version of Thelma and Louise will have have that free spirited adventure that we all should have once in awhile and trust me, I will share with you our funnies, and I do know that some will happen.........they always do.

Some things I want to do...............

Yup, I am occasionally going to share things that I would like to do..........like drink a martini. Why? Shoot I don't know, I just want to try one. Oh man, I can see you now, looking at the screen and saying "well big deal, just try one." Hmmmm, you have yet to know me well my dear Watson, or you wouldn't be sitting there and saying those words. There are quite a few reasons, nawww, just a few reasons that I have yet to travel down the road of martini-village (guess margaritas have already claimed 'ville'). !. What if I order one and I don't like it? Now again, I can see some of you just staring at the screen................BUT, for me that would possess another problem........I would have wasted either my $$$$ (and I am on a strict strict budget- you would be surprised on what I manage on) or someone else, and I would feel bad about doing either. 2. Ok, I don't like it.........now I have to either drink water or watch everyone else drink, or good gravy this thought just popped into my head........order something else and let this go to waste.............yikes!!!!!!!!! See we have to work on my wild side guys..........

Why do I want to drink a martini, I truly don't know..........is it the old fashion romance that was hinted at in the movies of the 40's and 50's? Is it the cool glass with that lone olive or I guess an olive floating around in it? Shoot I don't know.....I just want to try one. My girlfriend is coming this week, my girlfriend that has known me since we were little girls.......we are going to have adventures in San Antonio and Padre Island........so maybe during this Thelma and Louise week, I will try one. Here is a site that is all about martinis.........http://www.martiniart.com/and the same site has recipes too http://www.martiniart.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=9 .



I have no sound reason for wanting to or why I have not..........I just know that it is on my list of
"some things that I want to do".........and hopefully if I can remember to do this every once in awhile, I will share some more of my hidden "wants"

flirting

I don't know how to.........nope, I am (mumble mumble mumble)years old and I don't know how to flirt. I've been married twice, so maybe that just proves I don't know how......or it proves that I am lousy at it..........yes? I like men, I do. I don't seem to be comfortable in the presence of men. Isn't that strange.......liking them, wanting to be with one, but not comfortable meeting them. Case in point: This week we went to a local pizzeria/chain restaurant to have a quick bite to eat after my grandson's school program..(which they sang western and Texas related songs and I thought was wonderful). Next to our table, was a gentleman, who was eating alone. He was my age group......or I think he was........and all of a sudden I heard "Six and two" I looked over and said "what?" "The boys, I think they are six and two." I replied, "No, they are six and three, but you are really close." And then I proceeded to eat my salad......He went on to talk a little bit and I would answer him or make small comments, but I sure didn't offer to go sit with him, or invite him to sit with us. I just ate........and I was uncomfortable........uneasy, and not sure how to react. The End. My adult kids proceeded to tease me that I was being flirted with............but I said he ( the gentleman) was talking to the whole family.......well he could have been. They then informed me that I hardly looked at the gentleman at all........in fact I kept my head averted to the side. So now I am wondering.........what is wrong with me??? I look back and find that I have never been comfortable with idle chit chat with men...........ooooo, I can talk with girlfriend's husbands, doctors, sales clerks, but you put me in a position t like the one last week and I just freeze up...........like taking a test...........so come on, I need some help...........help me.........guide me.........please oh please don't let me open up my comment section tomorrow to a big zero - o -zilch...........give me some pointers.........please............

Believe

I believe:

In GOD

In Love

In Laughter

In the innocence of children

In the goodness of people

That if you have one or two REALLY good friends that you are a lucky person

That one day I will find my soul mate

That one day I will live in house with a real porch that has either a swing or rockers

That Mother Nature provides us with the most wonderful things, be it weather or scenery or beautiful trees, flowers, birds etc..........

That GOD made the ocean just for me, and I love sharing it with everyone else

In fairies

That someday I will be reunited with those that I love

That I will find my niche in the creative world (thinking I may have with my beads)

In Santa Claus

In honesty

In hope

In smiling and sharing smiles

In giving our children a good and solid foundation, so that when they travel on without us, that they have something to hold on to

In accepting myself for who and what I am (this one I am still working on)

In those special moments that maybe only you appreciate, but that will become those memories that will keep us going in bad times

In sunshine and dancing with your shadow

That once I stop typing this list I will think of bazillion more things..............

What made me think of this........this wonderful Christmas card/tag that a special internet friend sent to me, on one side it has this super fantastic image of Santa, stars, sheet music and on the other the word "Believe"...............thank you special person..........you know who you are.........I have this tag by my computer and it helps me daily to believe.

She's home.........

My daughter is home...........home from Iraq. We are one of the more fortunate members of this great military force, for she was gone for 8 months.......August until now. There are many of our military members and their families that are being separated for much longer than this. I am not going to express my personal views in my blog, mostly because I don't want to upset anyone, but let me give a hint of my feelings..........if we aren't there, then "they" (meaning the terrorists and radicals) will be here sooner than you think. Trust me, I don't want to wear anything over my face and revert back to being a second class citizen.

When she walked into the house, this is what greeted her................. here is a close up of the flowers......

Aren't they pretty............Steven went to Cosco and bought to big bouquets of wrapped flowers and I tore them apart and made three nice arrangements with them..........told her the house smelled like a funeral parlor.....tee hee. Had to share the sparklies on the candles too........bought those last year at Garden Ridge.......I do like that store.........I do. Steven also went and got a

gazillion (30-40) balloons and tied them to the two vehicles that were in the driveway, and on the banister. We also had sent away to Oriental Trading Company for welcome home banners, and three of the neighbors did too, so they were all up in the yard along with more balloons.........it was a nice welcome home. When we came out of security, we had special passes that allowed us to meet her at the gate, the USO was at the bottom of area going into the luggage claim madhouse, and they had a big banner and flags...........now I don't know if they do this everyday, or if it was arranged for one special person.........but it was nice and people would say "thank you" to Jenn and to us as we walked along.............it was a good feeling.............

We are back to semi-normal...........see I say semi, as I truly don't believe that there are any more Cleaver -Walton families anymore............and if there are, well let's not give them away, let's keep them a secret, so they can enjoy their lives in whatever fantasy world they exist in.......ok? We have another crammmm jammmmm week ahead of us, Jenn getting debriefed, and adjusting to being home.........me slowly relinquishing the sole female role in the house, the boy's many activities, AND, Jenn came home 40lbs lighter, so she has no pants or shorts that fit and they are leaving for HAWAII on Friday..........so I am sure there will be a packed in shopping spree to either the outlets or the mall.......when I don't know, but I bet there will be........there has to be!!!!!

I am happy that this family is together under one roof again..............and I shall try to keep this feeling alive and nourished for as long as I can...............because trust me, two strong willed and "I want it my way" women, one male and two rambunctious little boys under one roof - oh there will be stories to share in the future....................