Small and simple things

'....But behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass....'

Alma 37:6

I've  had reasons to send small packages via snail mail so I have been doing mail art.  It is excellant therapy for my hands (my hand orthopedic doc says it's the best therapy) as it has enough repetitive motion to build up muscles but enough changes in motions not to aggrevate my carpal tunnel.

I used to do these in my sketch book, but now I do them on envelopes so that not only can I enjoy them ( I scan them before I send them), but everyone who it passes by can enjoy them also. 

   I love the reaction everytime I take one to the post office, it never fails to put a smile on their face.  Hopefully it will put a smile on everyones face as it makes it's way to it's destination and make their day just a little brighter.  You never know who's life you will touch by even the small things that you do.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Coming in for a landing

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”

Norman Cousins quotes (American Essayist and Editor, long associated with the Saturday Review. 1912-1990 Sometimes I feel like this little bird, homing in on it's destination with hope, determination and action as I strive to improve my health. Enjoy the journey ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Coping

Learning how to cope with major medical problems is not easy and sometimes it can just about overwhelm me.  I do cope and learn to deal with my situation and try real hard to look for the good , there is always a reason for our trials and things to learn from it.  I think of all the wonderful people I would never have met without my medical problems, the compassion and tolerance I have learned and of course the persistence that I have developed.

At one of the mother- daughter get togethers at church when Emily was a teenager, we played a game kind of like the newlywed game from tv where we were asked questions and tried to guess what the other said.  Anyway one of the questions was what has your mother taught you.  All the other girls answered something like mom taught me to bake cookies or some such thing but Emily answered that I taught her persistence.  How much better is it to have taught my daughter a character trait like persistence than baking cookies; which I would have liked to have done more of but was limited by my body.

Anyway I am learning to cope in new ways, healthier ways hence the picture of the shoes as they illustrate my healthier way to cope.  Because of the medication I take causes my tendons to weaken and not heal after injury so now I have a permantly sprained ankle.  It swells to various degrees and makes shoes a challenge.  For the most part lace up tennis shoes fit the bill but sometimes only slippers will fit.  This is not so bad a home but going out is another thing altogether.  Church was a special problem in that I think one should look their best and I always wear a dress as does most everyone else.  I learned to ignore the fact that I had sport shoes on sometimes, but now I think deep down it still bothered me.  I never got the nerve to wear slippers to church.  Tom wanted me to wear a nice dress that I have and had not worn in a long time due to the shoe problem so Tom took me shoe shopping, what a pain, will the shoes fit if my feet swell, which foot would be the most swollen or would both be swollen or neither of them swollen.  Royal pain and frustration one shoe would fit and the other didn’t.  This time however the problem was solved by Tom’s suggestion that we buy two pairs in two sizes.  It worked real well, I wore one shoe of one size and the other of the other size and nobody knew the difference.  It was great, so much better for my ego and my spirits.  Coping better and better  all the time.

I keep on keeping on.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

The eyes have it

"An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language."

~Martin Buber~

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

The advantages of insomnia

When you can’t sleep at night you can sometimes see things that you wouldn’t see during the day. I’m not talking about dreams here, but real live happenings that on occasion offer some really fun photo ops.  Everyone in our family has sleep problems- insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, sleep walking and just about any sleep problems you can think of.  Consequently we leave a light on in our house all night long so those who can’t sleep can find their way around without stumbling.  We leave the light on above the kitchen window for two reasons- one it doesn’t shine under anyone’s door- two we don’t have to turn on any other light to get a midnight (or sometimes later) snack.  Due to the fact that the curtains are open the light shines outside and it attracts all kinds of insects.  A couple of nights ago I got to meet this genius frog when I got up and got a cup of water.  There he was stuck to the window with this bountiful source of food all around him, coming to him.  Pretty smart, huh.  What a great photo op for me.  I took several photos of him from the kitchen and got some wonderful shots of his underside an feet.

Normally I wouldn’t go outside during the night but this was just to tempting.  I took my camera out and tried real hard to take a photo of him with just the light from inside which was casting some wonderful shadows on him on the outside.  After adjusting the shutter speed and whatever else I could think of I failed to get a good picture of him.  I did happen to capture this really bizarre photo because he was  backlit. In spite of the fact that it did not capture the froggy details I really like this photo  and it’s really strange, compelling beauty.

After failing to get a good photo of him without a flash, I opened up the flash and tried to take his pic.  All I accomplished was scaring him off the window and onto the brick around the window where he posed very nicely for me.  Judging from his look he was not pleased, but he did stay real still for me.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Early morning clouds

Each moment of the year has it's own beauty... a picture which has never before and shall never be seen again.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

A heartwarming post

I read this post this morning and was very touched by it- it is worth taking a look
http://majorityoftwo.blogspot.com/2011/06/unsung-heroes.html

Enjoy ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

From my house to yours

Good morning my friends

Have a wonderful day!!!

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Taking a second look

It's funny how you can look at the same thing day after day and never pay any attention to it and then you take a second look and magically a new image emerges.  My little alien fishing off the roof-top is a good example.  Every day and several times a day at that for years on end I go past my neighbors house and never saw him before.  Now when I look up at my enchanting little alien it makes me want to chuckle.  As my life changes with new medical challenges and coping with them, I am taking a second look at myself and hoping to find in myself and my life an enchanting little alien to take with me from the ordinary and make it a delight.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Doggy Love

I found another photo sharing site that I really like: to view more press the ink below:

New blog found

I found a great new blog (new to me anyway)

http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

 that shares photos and this weeks theme is barns which I just happen to like to photograph.  This is my favorite and I had it blown up to poster size and sent it to my son-in-law for Christmas.  He loves barn photos, too.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Wild Georgia

Have a Plum delicious day ☺

It still amazes me that so many plants grow wild here.  These plums are wild plums from my neighbors front yard.  I'm still surprised when I see plants for sale in catalogs sometimes for quite a price when here they are almost weeds and will sometimes take over others plants. They do make for beautiful landscapes when they are in bloom or delicious when they produce fruit.

Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

My computer found it's way home

I absolutely miss my computer when it is in the shop, and surprise, surprise I was given an estimated time of the work being done by Monday, but they called the same day and told us it was ready.  I just can't explain how elated I was to get it back.  My camera and my computer are life savers for me.  Being somewhat house bound; my camera allows me to see the world around me in a different light and my computer gives me a link to the outside world.  Even when I am inside I still take photos out my window of the many birds that visit my bird feeders.

Hope you enjoy my birds like I do, a glimpse into a beautiful world that surrounds us if we make the effort to see it,  after all I could have left my curtains shut or never even put up the feeders in the first place which was Tom and Emily's idea but I got the feeders and Tom put them up and now even on my worst days I can still enjoy the beauty of nature.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Ah-choo- my computer caught a cold- Part 2

A-R-R-R-G-H

That's pirate for 'Oh bother, but this is going to be expensive!!!'

Tom took my computer down to have it fixed this morning, but I won't be getting it back till Monday or Tuesday.   Sooo... since my pics are almost all on my computer or my external hard-drive ( I'm so glad I just backed up last week, but I still might lose some from this week) I probably not be posting photos.  I'll just have to make due with my other artwork.  Of course you may get to know me better this way as drawings and paintings tend to expose one's deep down feelings and emotions.  The pirate picture was drawn last night when I was still upset and couldn't sleep (one did not necessarily cause the other) but the choice of subject and his expression certainly show how mad I was and I didn't even notice I had given him devil's horns until after I was finished.  How's that for a Freudian slip?

Anyway I hope you enjoy my artwork till I can get to my photos again.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Ah-choo- my computer caught a cold

 Stupid virus- anyway I'm back to using my husband's computer.  I could really get off on the evil-doers who create these viruses and I think that evil-doers is an appropriate word.  There are only two reasons for developing a virus; one is for criminal purposes such as credit card theft or some such or out of pure maliciousness since they never know whose lives they mess up. The only reason is to prove they can do it, just for the ego boost.   I find both these reason inconceivable especially the second one. I would never want to mess up someone else's life like that.  Do they realize how much angst they cause by such behavior?  At the very least there is the loss of computer time and most people rely on their computers now. But then there is straightening out credit errors, business problems to be worked out- time and money both lost- not to mention the loss of personal and precious documents and photos- so much of our lives are now on our computers and the pain that that loss brings.  Why? I suppose some of it has to do with what seems like a victimless crime because they don't know who they are affecting, although that does not always stop criminals.  Pranksters I just don't understand on any level, if you need to prove you can do something, try something constructive, try the next hot computer game or better yet if you're that smart try becoming the next Bill Gates. You'll laugh a lot harder with your wallet stuffed with money than you ever will by making someone else's life miserable.  Enough with the rant and venting I'm going in search of some pictures of beauty to reinforce the fact that in spite of whatever goes on in our lives there is always beauty around me.

Enjoy

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Garden Angel

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow.'”

The Talmud quotes Enjoy ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Greetings from my garden

Good Morning

 Enjoy your day

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

We belong to each other

     “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

~Mother Teresa~

These snapshots were taken while we had most of the family here as we celebrated Benn and Amanda being joined together.  The family enjoyed being together and talking of our memories of growing together and the younger ones enjoyed getting to know each our and all their extended family just strengthening the bonds between all of us.  There is nothing quite like growing together and having life long memories for bringing out our love for each other and knowing we belong to each other.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Bunnies are back

When we first moved into our house, it was a new subdivision built in the woods; where they tried to leave as much natural woods as possible.  We had lots of wildlife quite a bit of which has disappeared.  We had Bob whites, whip-er-wills, frogs (they just kind of thinned out in numbers never completely went away) , foxes,an occasional Bobcat, squirrels, and rabbits which disappeared for many years.  The Whip-er-wills and the frogs disappeared because Georgia had a drought for so long that the wetlands around us dried up.  The rest disappeared mostly due to wild dogs.  People used to think this was a terrific place to dump dogs.  I guess they figured we were far enough out so they could get away with it and enough people so that someone would pick them up and take care of them.  Sometimes it worked; one of our dogs 'followed' my daughter home inside her coat, and was put down in the yard so we would think it had indeed followed her home.  Since it was her birthday we got a surprise present from her to her.  This poor puppy was found quite literally under a cabbage in our neighbors yard in the rain.  Sad eyed child with a sad eyed puppy, well what could we do?

 However not all dogs who got dumped where so lucky and since we leave out in the county and there is no leash law some of our neighbors just let their dogs run.  It didn't take long for us to have a wild dog pack.  We rescued a little bunny who was injured but sad to say it only lived a few days.  The dogs got into the neighbors rabbit hutch, where they raised rabbits for food.  Some of them got eaten, but some got away and we had some funky looking cottontails for awhile.  Strange colors and spotted.

The neighbors decided that they had become a danger with lots of children in the neighborhood and the threat of rabies (we had wild foxes in the area with confirmed rabies).  They wouldn't let my friend out of the car.  Wild dogs with rabies would have been a greater threat due to their size and because kids being kids would want to go pet the 'nice' doggies.  Our neighbors waged a war against them and eventually they were eradicated, but by then the Bob Whites, rabbits and squirrels were gone.  Then the foxes and bobcats left due to lack of prey.

 

The squirrels started coming back last fall and have been entertaining us once again.  Now the sweet little rabbits are back and I was thrilled to see one once again.  Since I couldn't get a lot of pictures I took the best one and played with it.  I certainly hope we continue to get our wildlife back.  We're helping out with the birds with our bird feeders.  I don't know to help with the little critters but they do seem to be coming back on their own.  It is so wonderful to see nature heal itself after suffering from man's follies.

ENJOY

☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺