My Grama's Soul

JUST SAYIN'. Found this somewhere on the NET. JO

Sending Christmas greetings out into the world today. BELIEVE in what you hold dear. xo Jo

Enough already folks.....it is the holiday season!  If you follow the news at all you will realize that our country is so very angry.  In fact....the whole world seems to be angry right now. I get that everyone  is overworked and most of us are underpaid but can't we let go of all this animosity for just a short period of time and really ENJOY this season. I know things are far from perfect on our planet...we've done a lot of things wrong and haven't been paying attention as we should.   But please...let's give it a rest and just smile and greet the next person you see with a heartfelt MERRY CHRISTMAS or HAPPY HOLIDAYS. I know, I know.... I'm on my soapbox, but life is much too short not to enjoy the truly merry times. SO.........MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!! Jo

Here is to hoping we ALL get the wishbone! xo Jo photo:THE GRAPHICS FARIE

I chose the above picture today because that little structure looks so alone and forlorn in that beautiful field of lavender. Same with the hollyhocks...all alone in the above garden.  I feel that there was once a thriving blogging community that blogged for the mere sake of posting something uplifting or beautiful or sharing a bit of useful information.   In my opinion, that seems to have been put by the wayside and replaced by Facebook or Twitter or some other social media platform. I truly miss all the blogs that seem to have disappeared from the net.   Do any of you agree with me on this? I have always been of the opinion that old things are the best things.  I guess that includes people too!! haha Just me spouting off...as usual. (o: Jo

Our home is an open room concept with the small entry space, dining space and living space all in one large room.  We have incredibly high ceilings....which I think are too high by the way.  To wallpaper any of these walls would require a major cost of both time and money, so I decided to paint my entryway a fun color pattern to attempt to delienate it from the rest of the open space.   Once again, it is just paint and can be easily painted over at some point in time. I have used colors that occur throughout my home....you can see that I'm not a three color kind of gal.  I have lots and lots of color in both  art and furnishings. In fact, I think this paint sort of looks like a painting all by itself.  Cost so very little to accomplish all you need is painters tape and paint.  You can do this with whatever color palette you love and it will fit right in with your decor. Well, that is my money saving tip...

I have shown this work of mine in a previous post. Like most things I do....I'm always revising and refinishing until I achieve the desired result. Still not done here but wanted to show my progress on this little wall piece.  Painted with Behr paints you can by at Home Depot and worked on a little at a time when the spirit moves me. I could not do anything like this when Brad and I were traveling back and forth to the San Juans and out to our little place in Montana.  I was not able to get the supplies easily and it seems as though we were ALWAYS on the move.  Anyway....now that we have settled in our little spot....I can pretty much experiment any way I want as long as I don't rip out walls and attempt to do any major construction.  This is a little slow going as I get older...but it does bring me such joy just to be able to work creatively. I try to be patient with things like this now as new ideas take time to gel. ...

Look at this beautiful hibiscus bloom....is there anything more lovely?   Any person who says there is no divine order to our world surely must be mistaken. With all the tumult around us constantly I challenge each of us to simply "go outside and smell the roses" or hibiscus for that matter. Just show gratitude for all this wonderful planet has to offer.  Instead of "whining" about what you don't have look around and see what you do have....and it doesn't cost a dime! Me on my soapbox today....Just sayin' xo Jo

    I love the above quote.  I came across it while reading something yesterday.  I have known a few people during my lifetime who seem to live this quote everyday.  In fact, in times past, I was quite guilty of the same thing. One thing about getting older....you soon realize that you have fewer days ahead than behind....so chose to use them wisely.   Just sayin' Jo

At my age it seems like it takes forever for me to get a project done.  But I keep plugging away at it a little at a time. You can see the changes in the above photo and if you check my last post you can see where I began.  Still have some mantle painting to do...doing a green wash over that black and then coming back with a final light, light wash of gold. Still have to finish up the edges and do a light wash over the face I have decoupaged.   I did a slight wash on the right side panel just to see what it would be like.   As I said Still working........ Hugs. Jo 

I have posted before about the realities of living on a budget as one gets older.  When you leave the working force your income will invariably diminish somewhat.   You can do one of two things, you can complain about it or you can embrace the circumstances and get creative about how to deal with the circumstances.  For the most part, I have always been one who tries to make the best of my situation....this especially applies to my immediate surroundings. I have always been pretty good at making something out of nothing and I continue to do so today.  In fact this ability actually has nothing to do with getting older or being younger.  For some reason I am able to realize that IT IS WHAT IT IS and be somewhat content with that realization.  This probably comes from having a fairly complicated childhood and having very little in the way of expectations. Anyway.....enough of my rambling....the above pic is of my fireplace. ...

William Morris As a woman of a certain age I now feel as though I can pretty much do what I want in my sweet little spot.  I have had these porcelain glove molds for years.  Used to display jewelry on them but every time you touch one of them the darn thing would fall over and I was always afraid it would get broken.     So I put my thinking cap on and decided I could use them in another way that would make me laugh every time I walked in my front door. I had Brad super glue them on wall mounts and will use them to hold various pieces of art  as the mood strikes.  This particular is by Maria Pace-Wynters and is called "The Dreamer".  Anyway I made the spacing wide enough that I will be able to change out the art at will without covering much of the art itself. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....I GET THAT....and don't know if these glove molds are particularly beau...

Brad and I were married 40 years ago today.  It seems almost impossible that so much time has sped by.  It is a life filled with many, many memories that I never dreamed I would have. Saying those vows all those years ago in our little living room in our house on Holly makes the memories even sweeter. We started out with next to nothing...only our love and commitment to each other and my kids and we have never wavered.   He always sends me one rose for each of our married years.  This year....it is 40....such a large bouquet that the florist had to place it in two vases.  Goodness....the thought just occurred to me if we make it to 60 they will have to put the roses in a small wheelbarrow. HAHA!! I married a wonderful man....I'm VERY FORTUNATE AND GRATEFUL. Have a beautiful day, Jo

  Each year around Mother's Day Trader Joes has glorious peonies.  Sometimes they are a light whitish blush color  and sometimes they are the bolder warmer pinkish color as above. They are always reasonably priced at $7.99 a bunch.    You never know how they are going to open..whether they will remain a bright pink or fade to this glorious blush color.  This particular  bunch has flowers the size of saucers. What starts out like this becomes this..... They truly are the most gorgeous of flowers. Takes one's breath away. Just sending some  beauty out to this wonderful world of ours. Stay well and happy. Jo

For those of you living in colder parts of our country, I wanted to share pics of what it is like in Arizona right now.  Flowers are blooming like crazy as it has not turned so hot yet. The jasmine has bloomed and the fragrance is truly heavenly...but it doesn't last for long.  So we do enjoy it while we have it. The lavender and dianthus are taking off as are the bottle brush bushes.  The bees are especially fond of the lavender and the hummingbirds LOVE the bottle brush. We have a resident humming bird who lives in a tree nearby and often vacations in our little courtyard.  He loves the Buddha fountain I have hidden under the bamboo. Most evenings he comes here for water and to take a little bath while Skyler and I are in our TV room watching a movie.  We can see him through the window as he often comes to show us how lovely he is by putting on a display in front of the window. I always like to think th...