Dancing in the Autumn sunlight
amidst coffee-colored trunks and wispy branches
with marshmallow fluff and smoky gray clouds floating
in an azure blue sky
above a carpet of fading green grass…
A few bright leaves hang on to life
in bold and brilliant bursts
of crimson and honey and marmalade.
Autumn’s Final Act.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Photo taken 11/21/15 from my front porch (my blog cover photo) of the weeping cherry tree that has the only leaves left in the front yard.
“Soon will be Thanksgiving Day – Gobble Gobble Gobble!
Children run and laugh and play, but I think that I will stay,
and hide until the day is done – Gobble Gobble Gobble!”
This is a silly Turkey Song my kids and I sang when they were little (and I have to admit I still get it stuck in my head this time of year!) I sang it with my family as a little girl, so it is hard to think of Thanksgiving week without singing it!
This week is Sketch Challenge #272 at The Paper Players , and I had turkey on the brain for my Design Team inspiration card.
My turkey looks a bit concerned – doesn’t he?! I’m guessing turkeys are not so fond of Thanksgiving!
I had fun making this whimsical card and giving it to my sweet daughter-in-law with a few of those decadent Heavenly Hot Cocoa Brownies I made last week as a little surprise. She works really close to our house, and I practically pass her office to get to mine, so it is fun to drop by with a little surprise every once in a while. (And sweetheart that she is, sometimes I find little surprises in my mailbox from her too!) 🙂
For my stamping and papercrafting friends, below are the supplies and instructions. You can certainly improvise with colors and shapes and scissors and stamps, but I thought I would share what I used. There are lots of cute ideas on Pinterest to inspire you and which inspired me. I just made due with things I had on hand. Hope you will join us for this week’s Paper Players Sketch Challenge. So many fun things you can do with it and lots of other great inspiration from our creative design team.
Supplies & Instructions
Happy Thanksgiving Week! I sure am thankful for all of you!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
November Clouds – McKinney Home, Mars, PA
After posting my November Clouds photo and post yesterday, a very dear friend sent me this YouTube video early in the morning saying it was a “cloud song to go with my pic.”
Well, I got busy working and didn’t have a chance to listen to it until Charlie and I went for our lunch time walk.
The air was a bit cooler than it has been the past few days, but 55 degrees F is still pretty lovely for late November here in Mars.
So with my iPhone in hand and Charlie leading the way down our usual path, I hit “play.”
I then hit “play” five more times while we walked a few miles.
I had forgotten how much I love this song.
Or did I just realize how much I love this song?
Joni Mitchell wrote “Both Sides Now” in 1967 (I was only 4-5 years old), and recorded it in 1969 on her second album entitled, “Clouds.”
Needless to say, I was a bit young to truly appreciate it at that time. It is, however, #171 in Rolling Stone’s Top 500 greatest songs of all time.
So I listened to the words yesterday – – – over and over – – – and I found such deep meaning, such contentment, such freedom and liberation …
Next month, I will turn 53. Still hard to believe, but I also realize I am on the “other side” of life.
I am obviously past “middle age” as I surely don’t expect to see 106!
And it has taken me a while to believe and “accept” this “stage” of life – this “over 50” stage… But somehow, somewhere, at some point, it all became clear. It all became fine. It all became great!
It all became real and wonderful and the best time of life.
I’ve had my teens and twenties and thirties and every wonderful and not-so-wonderful thing that comes with each of those stages. When 50 came, I mourned it a bit.
I can’t pinpoint exactly when or why or how it happened, but I became content – even happy – maybe happier than ever – with this phase of life.
I’ve seen life and love and even clouds – from both sides now.
And life is clearer.
Life has more meaning.
Life is sweeter.
Clouds are “bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air.”
They have also “blocked the sun and rained and snowed on everyone.”
But – “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all.”
And I LOVE that!
I’ve also seen love and life from “both sides now.”
From “give and take”
From “win and lose”
And maybe I don’t have all of the answers….
But I realize that even though “something’s lost…”
there is still….
“something gained in living every day.”
And I am cherishing every single one…
from this side now.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Hmmmmmm……
PS Thank you, Dick! ❤
“A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed.
It feels an impulsion…
this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds,
and you will know, too,
when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond the horizons.”
– Richard Bach – Illusions
(This photo was taken late yesterday afternoon from my work office, which sits on one of the highest spots in Mars, PA. It was close to 70 degrees F again yesterday, which is so crazy unseasonably warm for November. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the blue sky and the puffy clouds and felt so inspired and overwhelmed and empowered by the beauty!)
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Chocolate lovers look out!
Brownie lovers beware!
If you are still baking boxed brownie mixes, get ready to rock your world.
I have discovered the ultimate homemade brownie recipe that is not only easy, but has an amazingly crispy, crinkly, chewy cracked crust floating atop a rich fudgy center that is going to cause you to hear angels rejoicing from your taste buds singing.
I wanted to create a brownie that was like taking a bite of a sip of hot cocoa.
So tweaking this amazing recipe (originally from Taste of Home) up just a bit made a real winner.
Get ready to bake and taste and share and treat those you love with a brownie that is simply beyond anything you have ever tasted before. I dare you!
Directions:
Cheers & Chocoately Brownie Hugs,
Jodi
Some of you may recall that Charlie mentioned yesterday how we saw Forsythia blooming right now in our little corner of the world….
in Mars, PA – where we are getting ready to transition from Fall to Winter in the next few weeks.
How could this be?
Forsythia blooms in the Spring!
It is one of the first signs of Spring.
Maybe we are skipping Winter this year…..
Wouldn’t that be a hoot!
Seems Mother Nature is very confused.
I do have to admit, it was quite exhilarating to see this unique and out-of-place pop of yellow Springyness amidst the stark brown Autumn branches.
So exhilarating that I felt compelled to do a little watercolor of them.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
These are a few of my favorite things:
#1 and #2 are pretty obvious… Time to EAT!
Woohoo! Yahoo! Woot! Woot! Yippee Yo Ki Yay!
#3 – now this one is a little different….
at least for me…
Most of you lucky ducks reading this are fortunate enough to get to eat AGAIN at lunch time.
Mom tells me, however, that dogs only get to eat at Breakfast and Dinner. (heavy dog sigh)
But…..
Lunch time can be pretty darn glorious (at least if it is a day Mom works from her home office and it is not raining – or she is not feeling toooooo laaazzzy!)….
We get to go for a WALK!
That wonderful, amazing, magnificent four-letter word that can only be spoken within 10 seconds of the actual event occurring! WALK!!!!
Oh the wonderful smells and sights and people and activity! It’s a wonderful part of a dog’s life – – – W…. A…. L…. K…. One of the greatest words ever.
If we are lucky, I get to see some of my friends on our walk.
I really, really, really love the little ones that Mom calls “kids.”
They are fun because they are just my size and they like to run fast like me, and they are always so happy.
Sometimes I get to see other dogs and cats on my walk too – some are friendly – some not so much… (Mom says we just have to “leave it” when we go by them!)
One of the stupidest parts of walks are a thing called “cars.”
Every single time one of them interferes with my walk along the road, Mom makes ME get “over” and lets them go by! Seriously?! The nerve! Don’t they know this is MY walk!?!
While I’m busy sniffing and smelling, Mom is usually looking around. Lately, she has been going on and on about how “wonderful” the weather has been. Yesterday it was 64 degrees F on our walk. Mom says this is unseasonably warm for mid-November in Mars. She goes on and on about how beautiful the sky is and how warm the breeze is.
Yesterday, she got all excited because she saw these yellow flowers she called “Forsythia” that were blooming. We had to stop (in the middle of my walk!) to take a picture of them. Puleeeezee!
Mom says Forsythia bloom in the Spring time in Mars, and it is almost Winter here, so this is very unusual.
Whatever!
We usually walk about two or three miles at Lunch time, and I try very hard to walk “nice” and not pull. When I do, Mom yells, “Easy,” and I have to tow the line.
But… when we get back to my free space however…
that wonderful space that Mom refers to as “Charlie’s Yard”…
she takes the leash off, and I get to “zoom!”
Zoom Zoom Zoom!
Aren’t the zoomies the best?!
Zoomies are the reward for walking nice and “easy!” It is a chance to run like the wind – round and round – until I can run no more.
Then…. I go in the house (Mom says this is “home”).
I get a big drink of water…. and I am a happy boy… and I wait….
for the next best time of day…..
Dinner!
Woofs & Wags,
Charlie
Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?
A random song you haven’t thought about in a long time?
For days, I have had this one in my head – a classic I never tire of – and that withstands the test of time and ages: The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind (written by Bob Dylan 1962 – sung by Peter, Paul and Mary).
“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?”
My thoughts today:
Let’s not turn our heads.
Let’s look up and really SEE the sky.
Let’s truly listen to and respond to people’s cries.
Let’s listen.
Let us realize that we can make a difference…
One person at a time
by turning towards instead of away,
by looking at head on.
Let us be present.
Let us not turn our heads and pretend we just don’t see.
The answer lies within each of us.
We can make a difference – one person – one act – at a time.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I’m not pushing for this white stuff just yet! But….
Our challenge this week at The Paper Players is just that: Winter Wonderland, so I had a lot of fun creating this blustery scene for my Design Team Inspiration Card.
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For this card, I simply stamped the images from Recollections Winter Wonderland Clear Stamp Set onto watercolor paper. I then painted some blustery cold snow with turquoise blue watercolor paint and some other small details like the scarf, carrot nose, stars and a teensy bit of shading. While the blue paint was still a bit wet, I sprinkled on some silver embossing powder and heat set it. I then added a little silver bow and matted it in matching SU Tempting Turquoise card stock and adhered all to SU Pumpkin Pie orange card stock. I added a few turquoise snowflakes to the inside also. I love how blue and orange look together, and now I have a card ready to send to someone soon.
Hope you will join in on the Winter Wonderland cardmaking fun at The Paper Players this week!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Don’t you just love a “good” hug?!
A hug where the other person grabs and squeezes and embraces and holds on tight?
I always try to make it my thing to be the last to let go; and it is funny how sometimes I get into holding on battles with some of my friends and family who take me up on the challenge, and we keep hanging on and laughing and squeezing and hugging.
It’s just the best!
Did you know the average length of a hug between two people is three seconds?
But researchers have discovered when a hug lasts 20 seconds, there is a therapeutic effect on the body and mind.*
The reason is that a sincere hug produces a hormone called oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone.” Oxytocin has a calming effect on the body and mind and can help us relax, feel safe and calm our fears and anxiety.
The best part is… this wonderful gift (a simple hug) can be offered free of charge every time we have a person in our arms.
Isn’t that empowering?
Doesn’t it give you hope in kindness and love and goodness and grace in our world (especially amidst crazy things happening like the awful Paris attacks yesterday) that you have something you can give at any given time to any person you choose right now that can make them feel better?
Not only are hugs a great gift, we all NEED them. It has been said:
“We need 4 hugs a day for survival,
8 hugs a day for maintenance,
and 12 hugs a day for growth.”
So we better get busy!
Give somebody a bear hug today.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 