MONDAY MUSINGS:LUCKY PIERRE, NOT

 MONDAY MUSINGS left me shaking my head after travelling on a packed plane yesterday. The fact that the plane never seemed to cool down might have been part of it, but I was stuck in seat D. Let me tell you, it was no fun even with a flight that didn't last a little over an hour but seemed much longer...

Yep, you guessed it, I was sandwiched between 2 guys. The guy on my left, I will call Thumper. Thumper was thin with lanky legs that manspread into my space, with a right leg that never stopped moving. I'll attribute it to nervousness because when he finally dozed off 10 minutes before landing, it stopped shaking. Paul Bunyan on my right embodied the word 'burly' and was the hairiest guy I have ever seen clad in shorts and a snug sports shirt. The seat was definitely too small for him. He looked so uncomfortable, as his bright red face attested, and never lost that beet color. After 10 minutes of coughing, he professed was 'ragweed' season and his meds weren't working. He wasn't kidding, he hacked the entire flight.

I guess I have been lucky not to have been sardined between two men before!

 The landing could not come soon enough and it was such a relief to get off that plane.

FOTO FRIDAY: ECHO's VOICE

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Echo arrived at my home after having spent one 100 degree week in the woods, tick-covered, without food/water. He had been shot in the head, with the bullet entering the top of his head and exiting the back of his neck. 

The vet put him on prednisone and doxycycline to treat heartworm and a swollen jaw. A med reaction caused over a dozen welts... The guy needed quiet, some nursing, and a lot of love.

I 'd like to say Echo found his voice during his stay. 

FOTO FRIDAY shows him enjoying a movie...

and his first bark in 2 weeks. My job is done. I will miss this sweetie.

May he find the best home ever.

 

TBT: ANNUAL PICS... STUDENT & FACULTY

TBT: This week I helped someone I met in homeroom in high school celebrate their birthday and welcome a new decade. Actually, I was the student, and she was the teacher. 

my senior pic

                                 

 Here we were in the Warrior '72 annual.

She changed the side she parted her hair, but I didn't. ( but I may change it now)... LOL

Fast forward 55 years later...

'Looking forward to more get-togethers.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS:HANGING AROUND

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: HANGING AROUND:
Sometimes we miss special moments because we are just in too much of a hurry. Guilty as charged...

Yesterday I posted a song by a young teen, Susey Wendy who knocked the socks off her 'Voice ' German speaking coaches. I had just caught this clip on a FB reel and posted it as soon as I had found the entire clip of the song. 

Yet ,when I returned to my YouTube screen, the Voice Kids Blind Auditions clip was still there and I thought, why don't I listen to the coaches' banter and see how much German I could still understand? They were praising Susey's abilities with underhanded compliments for each other when Alvaro and Susey shared a love of Norah Jones' music. What followed was actually an amazing rendition by Alvaro sitting down at the piano and the 2 singing a Don't Know Why...

How many of you caught that? 

How many times do we pass up an opportunity because we are in too much of a hurry? We just need to hang around a bit longer. And who knows what we will encounter?  It might be a different kind of duo,  a lovely conversation, a new experience, heck, a new friend...

* Here's that clip again, just hang on past the banter where they share ...  Click to 4:49 Wowser!

Don't Know Why

tUESDAY tUNES::: What a Difference a Day Makes!

 tUESDAY tUNES : A 14 year old Susey knocks this one out of the park on The Voice KIDS: Blind Auditions with Dinah Washington's 

What a Difference a Day Makes... INCREDIBLE

MONDAY MUSINGS: WALKING IN THE RAIN...

 MONDAY MUSINGS: Walking to see art can even get me going in a thunderstorm... Actually, the rainstorm arrived earlier than expected on the car trip heading south to Hot Springs, and while I don't ever like driving in a thunderstorm, especially on a highway it ended before our destination...

We had both looked feverishly for a legible map of the artwalk route to celebrate Hot Spring's 37th Art Walk anniversary celebration in Hot Springs. I have to admit the wet prospect probably dissuaded many but we didn't even need our umbrellas. Fortunately, the first gallery did have literature of the places to visit and there was local music besides snacks in the various galleries. 

On the 2nd floor art collective, we met several of the artists while perusing the art.  Laura, my partner in crime of the day,  purchased one of Morse Craig's bowls. Pictured on the left, Morse was kind enough to explain to all those interested how he uses a cake-like mold to retain the bowls' shape before adding resin, sometimes with crushed or whole semi-precious stones. Laura's bowl will have its new home on her dining room table inherited from her Mom.

My other favorite gallery was this unique gallery space called none other than the Blue Donut...  

                                                                   

Their display of munchies was of course, artistically arranged even if there were no blue donuts

Upon entering we were asked to choose our favorite piece of art and vote for it after looking at all the art. 

I chose the Ridge quilted art scene #10 below as it reminded me of where I used to live with the ridge in the End of the Rainbow Valley. 

But much to my dismay, Ms Nilholen's price was beyond my pocketbook as its tag read NFS (not for sale), 

It still got my vote!

We didn't even have to walk in the rain to see art, and the two of us left satisfied...

FOTO FRIDAY: FASTEST VISITOR AT 4 O'CLOCKS

 

FOTO FRIDAY: You have to look quickly to see this visitor where the 4 o'clocks are strategically planted by the front door- You can smell their fragrance and see its visitors. Remember to click on the video below.

It's a hummingbird moth.

TBT: 5 YEARS AGO

TBT: 5 years ago I moved back to where I grew up and started moving into my new house that I would have to make into my home. The AC went out that during the 3rd day of unpacking.  August, my friends, is not a chilly time of the year in Arkansas.

This is what my hallway cabinets looked like as I began unpacking and 

they would morph into La Leyenda de la Vida. 

Schatzkes of yours truly as EVERYTHING has a story.

Each shelf has a different theme of places I have lived/visited. 

But the truth is as this t-shirt attests...

 The fact is even 5 years uner my belt , I am as the tshirt proclaims just a Wisconsin girl living in an Arkansas world.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SUMMER BLUES

 MIDWEEK MUSING: SUMMER BLUES comes today as it's my last day of summer LifeQuest classes. The Thursday Cine Noir  movie class was only 4 weeks so that's been done a couple weeks now.  

Today I will bid my thought-provoking classes on Viet Nam farewell as well as the class called Friedman's Fables. The latter had very interesting discussions on moral/ ethical issues. I  admit failure for not surviving the AI class. Way too many questions from the large class, not allowing the teacher to get through the lesson.

One thing is for sure - I won't mind leaving the summer heat behind as my garden weeds can attest. I have plants that usually make it but didn't this summer due to the extreme heat waves. Instead of early morning weeding, I substituted my early water aerobics class, a welcome cooling relief followed by a sauna, and this terrific hydromassage chair at the Athletic club that gave my body muscles an extra workout. 

I did enjoy the convertible ride out to listen to music at BoBrooks Farms with Matt & Aimee while enjoying a couple wine slushies and a charcuterie on Sunday...  Yes, the porch is bustling again .

Fingers crossed for a cooler day for the 37th Hot Springs Art Gallery Walk on Friday. I am looking forward to seeing what area artists are doing and hearing some good music to boot... Stay tuned ,

tUESDAY tUNES: ALL FOR NOTHING

 I love listening to new artist's work... Here's Aruna 's ALL FOR NOTHING. I like it, how about you? Kind of catchy, right?

MONDAY MUSINGS: SCHOOL 'DAZE'

MONDAY MUSINGS: Remember when we, and then our kids, went back to school after Labor Day? 

Well, my Atlanta grands' first day is today! So much for August family vacations. You know thar last summer getaway.

(BTW if you enlarge the pic
you can see their school boards...)

I don't understand the earlier starting date. Financially, it must cost the schools much more to have the buildings air-conditioned and with lights on this early. It also means teachers had to return in July to set up their rooms. Eegads, when summer already wasn't long enough to recuperate as a teacher. Yeah, I realize parents are otherwise ready.

Do you think it's also about working parents needing more daycare???Any guesses?

FOTO FRIDAY: MAKE A WISH

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Making a wish was especially sweet this week ending it with this yummy from Ciao Baci. I would definitely recommend it.  The wind almost blew out my candle before I finished my wish... Made it.

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was ECHO

TBT: LEARNING CURVE ON PERSONALITY

 TBT:  My learning curve re: ECHO, my most recent foster dog, who has been with me a good week now, has been revealing a unique personality.  Each day has brought me a steep learning curve.

Things I've  learned about Echo:

 *He's an interior decorator with good taste :

     

Moving kitchen mat to the dining room,

                                                                                                                        

the front door mat to the living room more than once...

     and the bathroom mat to the hallway...

His last decorating shenanigans was helping himself to 2 different pillows off the living room sofas. I scoured the entire house looking for them. Finally, I found them on my bed with his kennel blanket.

 I guess where he thought his afternoon snooze would be if I hadn't come home …  I scolded him as I was taking the pillows back to the living room and Echo put himself in timeout in his kennel. His idea, not mine.

* Food snarfer

   No matter if I've just finished filling his food bowl, it's gone in 40       seconds!

 * Shoe aficcionado: he likes shoes/is it where they are placed?

  Took all the shoes lined up by front door,

  placing them all over the house and not together in pairs...

  ( they're now all back in closets, guess I needed a nudge)

* Relieving himself 

    Holds in #1forever even after we've gone for a walk,

   then relieves himself in one spot ( great yellow stained backyard)   

   #2 -backyard dumps on carport driveway so it has to be moved               in order for me to leave...

*Sleeping preference

   Left his nice doggy cushion bedside, 

   but he decided I should have a man in my bed.

Imagine my face seeing him sprawled on his backside on my bed...

If you know me, you know I don't think dogs belong in a human's bed. I tried to stifle my laughter at the sight before yelling, "GET OFF!"

No wonder Echo's exhausted at the end of the day!

He is just the sweetest guy...

                                    It's a dog's world, isn't it?

MIDWEEK MUSING: TAKING A CHANCE

Sometimes one just has to take a chance on an unknown.  Last weekend  I took a chance with an Austin, Texas musical group called Big Love Car Wash.  Last year they performed a house concert and 80 folks showed up. So this year their sponsors got a bigger space at Second Presbyterian Church and we filled it!

Big Love Car Wash is touted as a blend of bluegrass, folk, jazz, Celtic music, and rock. You just never know where they're going, but it works.  They pulled us in with their musicality; their strings worked overtime. "Lyrics from the band’s three songwriters touch on themes of empathy, environmentalism, and community building. Even the band’s name is a verbal reference to something like a group hug."

Here are the Big Love Car Wash members with a sample clip of their skills following-

 

During the concert, the band introduced their sound technician who hailed from Ireland. At intermission, I sought him out to find out where he was from in Ireland. (Remember I had taken that Irish musical tour) Alas, he was from Dublin, not the southern part where I had been. But he told me he had met the band in Germany, where Big Love Car Wash had been performing. I shared my couchsurfing story of a German couple who had stayed with us in the End of the Rainbow Valley. You see, the husband was an Air Force Captain in the States teaching our Air Force boys, but he was in an Irish band in Germany.  He grinned ear to ear. "Oh yes, the Germans love Irish music." We had a lovely convo!

In addition to this exchange, I met the gal sitting next to me, and it turns out once we started visiting she has had a home in Costa Rica for the last 20 years not far from where I lived last January. She is the only expat living there. I knew we were kindred sisters.

So the $20 entrance fee was certainly worth taking a chance: great music, lovely conversations, and a new bud to boot!

tUESDAY tUNES: LOVE ME WHERE IT HURTS

 tUESDAY tUNES this week is RIVER & LUZ sharing a beauty: LOVE ME WHERE IT HURTS....  

TBT & a MONDAY MUSING :SPLIT

Split as in Croatia... Our trip originally had us docking in Split but dock construction dictated otherwise. So the MS Diamond docked beyond the city and bussed us back to Split where we did just that- SPLIT, bid our boatmates a quick farewell as we all went our separate ways. 

The Happy Bookers checked our luggage in at a tiny storage place meters from where we had been dropped off.  The fee was well worth it since we had a city tour booked for early afternoon. Who wants to lug luggage? LOL . Good thing too as wet weather finally caught us during the day...

This was the only day in our journey we would be plagued by rain. And the heavens let loose with a vengeance... We found refuge under a large plaza canopy for the boardwalk restaurants. 

The rain eventually lifted, and we found a nice restaurant to dry off and have an early lunch. 

We had some time and since one of us didn't have rain gear, we went to the closest tourist shop to buy an umbrella. Unfortunately, there weren't any so the shopkeeper offered his. The Croatians are soooo nice! 

Finding our way back to return it after all the narrow walkways would provide a challenge...

Dr. Martino

Prof Martino would be our guide through the old town of Split which has been a UNESCO site since '79. 

Split started as a Greek colony in 3rd/ 4th C, then the Romans arrived. Emperor Diocletian built his massive retirement palace there. In the 7 th C, refugees from Salona moved inside its walls after their town was destroyed. 

The city has remnants of Byzantine, Croatian, Venetian, and Austrian hands before becoming part of Yugoslavia and then gaining its independence as Croatia in 1991. 

Today  ~3000 people are still there, and the emperor's mausoleum now is the Cathedral of St Dominus and the basement halls have turned into bars and shops. We witnessed a couple of wedding parties too! 

Magnificent architecture surrounds one... the pics can talk for themselves.

Historic craftmanship abounds... doors, gateways, creches, tile eo embellishments,

metal doors

intricate tile work

Even though we stayed dry in the basement, we weren't so happy when we learned its history... the dungeon was where all the dung literally was dumped. All of it had to be shovelled out when the space was repurposed in later centuries...

Gregory of Nin

10th C  Bishop Grgur Ninski in Croatian fought to use local language in services instead of Latin. 

People rub his toe for good luck!

Statue by Ivan Meštrović

Big hugs to my Wisconsin buddy who went online to arrange this tour after discovering the ship couldn't stop here.