My Grama's Soul

In a previous post I had shared with all of you dear readers my visit to the garden's of Giverny. At that time, I indicated that I didn't think I had any photos of the inside of the house; but low and behold I did come across some little snippets of info about the inside of the house that you might enjoy. The village of Giverny is located on the right bank of the River Seine about 48 miles from Paris.  It is at the confluence of one of the two branches of the River Epte, lined with willows and poplars. Claude Money (l840-l926), thanks to the railway, discovered Giverny late in the l9th century and bought "the Press House" a farmhouse with an orchard now known as The Clos Normand.  He was completely inspired by the surrounding countryside.  He gradually limited himself to painting the water garden, Nympeas,  that he created by diverting the Epte river to his Japanese Bridge and the water lilies on the pond that was dug. Monet was influenced by the Japanese culture

No...I am not Buddhist....in fact; I am a born again Christian.  However, often I find myself exploring other religions and trying to gain pearls of wisdom where I can, when I can. I have had this little article for sometime and I thought it was a great one to share with everyone who is interested. INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE....from the Dali Lama *  Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. *   When you lose, don't lose the lesson. *  Follow the 3 R's:  Respect for self, respect for others and responsibility for all your  actions. *  Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. *  Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. *  Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. *  When you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. *  Spend some time alone every day. *  Open your arms to change, but don't let go of values. *  Remember that silence is sometimes th

  I don't know abut you.....but I am totally in awe of all the beautiful homes and gardens that are shown all around blogland. I was out working in my yard on this glorious Sunday and it just occurred to me that hundred's of you ladies out there are probably doing the same thing. And as I am clipping and pruning; the thought also occurs to me how much time and effort we ladies put into making our homes beautiful and inviting. Oh.....I know we all say......we love giving to our families and hopefully they enjoy our efforts............but nevertheless, it requires a lot of time and effort to keep a  beautiful home; not to mention the time it takes to post a beautiful blog. So HERE IS A TIP OF MY HAT TO ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL WOMEN OUT THERE WHO MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL AROUND YOU. Blessing to all of you.......have a wonderful week. Jo  

Hopefully, by now, everyone realizes how much I enjoy gardening and flowers.  I truly believe that "THE EARTH LAUGHS IN FLOWERS". Today I decided to photo a little spot in my house where I not only have put some of my roses in a sweet little vase; but I have also been brave enough to put one of my paintings in the vignette. I'm really a beginning artist, but I find if I display one of my pieces of art occasionally it does encourage me to draw and paint more.  Does the same happen with you?  One of these photos was taken with the flash on, and one with it off.  You can certainly tell the difference.  That is another thing I am trying to get the hang of, photography. I know with enough practice with my art and my photography I will get better. You know, creativity does kind of resemble life, the more you do it the more you improve!!!!  Wouldn't you agree?? Have a blessed day dear friends, Jo

 I know....this is a picture of a sofa AND NOT A MIRROR.....but there is a reason. I just received the most fabulous mirror from one of the best stores in Kansas. In some of my previous posts I have indicated that sweet hubby and I do some traveling in a motor home.  We go all over the country....and have quite a good time.  Anyway....we were in Kansas City, MO.....a fabulous city I might add; and I saw an add for a little store across the bridge in Praire Village, KS named CURIOUS SOFA .  With a name like that I could not resist; so we went on over for a look.  I bought a few little things and we continued on our journey.  That was over two years ago.   Well....since I've started blogging, I ran across Curious Sofa's blog and I check in periodically  Low and behold.......last time I checked in I saw this....... I usually would not post about stuff I buy; but this find was so  beautiful and special I wanted to share it with you. I love the little finial on the top....

This weekend we finally were able to see our grandson.  Sweet hubby and I have not seen him for over a month due to my foot being broken and the fact that we came down with some kind of horrible virus that lasted a little over three weeks. Anyway, he spent the weekend with us and we had a blast.  Grandma wanted to treat him so I took him to Toys R Us.  You know......the toy store that has EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD THAT MAKES A SOUND OR LIGHTS UP!!! Ok......so I asked him what he wanted to get; and he told me he wanted a new book. I was very impressed that he would want a book out of everything he could have chosen. "Yeah, Grandma, I want "The Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid".  "What", I said.  He repeated the same thing again.  Ok......I'm thinking, I know little boys are obsessed with bodily functions so maybe this book is out there.  How would I know?? We get to the store, he runs right to the book section............and this is what he finds!!!! I thought I

O.K. all you gals with studios out there.......I have a simple question for you. How do you keep those studios, with all that stuff, from becoming one big dust bowl? I spent almost four hours this morning working in my studio, dusting, washing, sweeping, etc.  My spot is so tiny compared to the rest of you out there; just a little cubby. And.......I don't have nearly as much stuff as most of you serious artists.  So........how do you keep from coughing, sneezing, wheezing, etc. whenever you are in there visiting all those little dust bunnies. How do you keep your studio clean?????? Good day to everyone, Jo   Photo:  Courtesy of Flikr

I know.....I said I would post abut my ancestors next; but when I started digging around, I could not believe how much info there was and I have to figure out a way to condense it. THAT  will take some time, my friends. SO........I decided to post about something I DO KNOW something about -- beautiful flowers. These are photos of our Iris from my garden.  I sooooo... love the big purple bearded Iris. In Arizona, they require little care and seem to bloom profusely. This morning my sweet husband came in to admire this beautiful flower after I had picked it from my garden. This is what he said to me in his wisdom;  "YOU KNOW HONEY, THERE HAS TO BE A GOD.  NO HUMAN BEING COULD MAKE SOMETHING THIS UNIQUE AND SPECIAL". With that said, let's all of us have a beautiful day! Blessings dear friends. Jo