I'm a 'Bird Watcher'

For the last few years of his life, my husband had birds.

He had two parakeets and two finches.

All but one passed before he got so sick...but the male finch

'hung' in there...actually about a year past the normal life

expectancy of finches.

Even as sick as he was, my husband insisted on being the one

to feed, water and clean the cage until he went

into the hospital for the last time.

(For one thing...I couldn't stick my hand in the cage...

the bird(s) always made me jump when they started fluttering around.)

He could stick his hand in and they'd just jump on it

like it was part of their environment.

Anyway...I always enjoyed watching the birds...

so I picked up a feeder

a few years ago and hung it in my back yard.

Since moving to this house, the feeder is actually close enough

to the back door, that I can sit there and watch them

without scaring them off.

Skittles doesn't chase them either...which is a good thing.

I get all kinds of birds coming to feed...and it's so cool to watch

them grab up a Multi-Grain Cheerio and carry it off

somewhere to eat it in peace.

Yes...the birds are CRAZY about the Multi-Grain Cheerios.

I'd always fed them bread crumbs...along with the wild bird seed...

which they gobble right up.

One day...as I was fixing to toss some stale cereal...I realized I

was low on bird seed and bread crumbs...

so I tossed some Kix cereal into the tray and they went wild!

But...the Multi-Grain Cheerios are by far their favorite!

This morning I tossed a handful in the tray and within five

minutes it looked like a scene from

Alfred Hitchcock's

'The Birds'.

They flew in from every direction...crowding their way onto the tray...at one

point I had seven of the little finch, wrens and sparrows

on the tray.

But they are quick.

They grab a piece of cereal and take off with it.

So...the best I could do...since I'm not exactly

'Speedy Gonzales'

with the camera...was to get one picture

with three birds...though the one

is obscured by the feeder tube.

Starting my day watching the birds feed...is something I wished I'd done

years ago.

It is so peaceful and relaxing...

Having my morning coffee with the birds is the best!!

Sometimes I visit the Forums

I usually don't go to the forums....unfortunately, I tend to find

more negativity there than I care to call into my day.

But...occasionally, I find a need to visit there.

Last week, I visited a learned there was a big 'scandal' of sorts...

if you don't already know about it...

here is the info.

Well...now this is has somewhat escalated into

Protesty,

which has also spawned some Facebook pages

and the such.

One of the things being asked of Etsy Sellers...

is to change their avatars

to something with hands...to show their

support to keep Etsy the place to shop handmade...or...to be more

forthcoming about what is and is not allowed on Etsy.

Many of the Sellers have also opted to place their Etsy

Shops on vacation on May 10th...in Protest.

I still have not decided what to think about all of this...on one hand...

it doesn't really affect me...

on the other hand...maybe it does.

I was selling art, very briskly, on eBay, at a time that numerous

artists were SERIOUSLY selling five figures a month, EVERY month...

we only did that a couple of times...but it was thrilling.

We didn't think too much about all the changes they began to make..

until it was too late and our business was pretty much

knocked out from under us.

I don't really want to taste that bitter pill again!

But...on a lighter note...

I also found something very wonderful in the forums...

right next to the angry posts about the protest...

it was a 'thread' about the Love of one

Seller towards another...even though neither has ever

met the other in person.

It brought tears to my eyes...and I have been

blessed to have exchanged numerous emails with Trudy

throughout this evening...

you can read more about this truly beautiful person

here.

Some Days....

Most days I have a 'plan'...I know what I'm going

to do with my day and I get on with it.

Occasionally though...

everything gets thrown out of 'whack'.

I'm not only experiencing one of 'those days'...

I have been for several days in a row now.

Perhaps it's that I have been suffering the worse case of

head stuffiness I can remember...

I have been so congested...

but the worse part of it all...

I can't hear a thing!

I have the TV volume turned up as loud as it will

go and I still have to turn on 'closed captioning'

just to be able to follow what is going on.

I am self medicating with over the counter

remedies..

and this morning I awoke

far less stuffy headed...

even my chest feels better...

but

alas

I still Can't Hear!

Changes...all these changes!!

Oh...it seems JUST when I finally

figure something out...

someone goes ahead and changes

things on me!!

I was not going to post about 'changes' today...

until I logged into Blogger and found

it TOO had changed.

I'm sure I must have had prior 'warning'...but

I must have missed it.

No doubt I will eventually get used to the changes...

but like the other sites that have made

changes in the past year...

it seems like when I finally get used to the

'new way of doing things'

they change things up...again!!!

I was going to add a few tags and 'schedule' this post for later....

but I have no idea what happened to those features!!!

My very small work space

I just finished two large 

(for me and my work space they are large)

24" x 30"

commissioned paintings.

This size canvas takes up almost the entire dining room table...and I have

to set up card tables for paints, brushes..etc.

I'm very pleased that I was able to accomplish this..and let me tell you

it wasn't easy.

With my limited space, I can only work on one painting at a time...

then I have to find someplace safe to put it

until I can work on it again.

I only have one closet...and that one is a walk through clothes closet that I

share with my son...so no room there.

Mostly...paintings are stored all over my bedroom...and when I get

to the point that I would have a problem walking there...I don't paint anymore

until I sell some of the older works.

You can see that I do all of my printing and painting in my dining room

and every other Sunday we have family day...

so things have to get put up

so they we can use it to eat a family meal at the table.

I'm not complaining...

when I moved to my last house...it was because we were living

in a second floor apartment and with my

husband's failing health, he couldn't manage the stairs anymore.

Anyway...

that house was quite a bit pricier than this one...

but painting sales were really good at that time

and so it was no big deal.

Since things have gotten a bit 'tight' for everyone...

I had to make a choice to downsize too!

It's actually a cute little place...

and I am 'making it work'.

Of course, I do have to have sales a little more

often than I used to...in the hopes of moving 

a few older paintings so that I have

room for new ones.

I'm finding all kinds of Fun Apps on Etsy

I hope this first little app shows up...I'm not exactly html proficient...

so I also included it on the sidebar. 

It's a cool little widget from Craft Cult that scrolls the items in my Etsy shop....

I thought it was very cool.

Another very cool app is the 'Etsy Theme Shop' for Facebook app.

 I've added this app to my Rustic Goth Facebook page

which is way more noticeable than the way it used to show up...

and the app gives you the option of

putting in a limited time discount

by going through Facebook...

I thought that was pretty cool.

And...I do use the 

Etsy On Sale

app everyday for my daily renews,

as well as whenever I have a sale.

These use credits...which you have to buy...but lately

it has been worth the money, as it automatically

renews the items I have indicated...at the intervals I want...

and I can do several days at a time, with only a couple of clicks.

It only costs me 5 credits a month...plus the renewal fees of course...

but it is fairly cheap...and I consider a source of advertising for my Shop.

My Week-End in KC

My two sisters, a niece and I

spent last week-end in Kansas City

at a Visalus convention.

I learned a lot

 (I've always loved the product...

and it helped to learn how nutritious

 and vitamin filled it really is...

and that one shake...just one single shake...

provides more protein, vitamins and minerals 

for underprivileged children in poor areas...

than they get in their diets in an entire week...

according to the food bank director that spoke

on one of the films we saw.)

I really did learn so much

and had so darned much fun to boot!!

It was a pretty big deal for me since I seldom leave my house.

It's not that I'm home bound or anything...

I just don't have a car

and my art keeps me pretty busy...

sometimes working from home keeps one rather 'tied' to it.

 

Anyway...my sisters live in Wyoming

so I don't see them often...

here lately it's usually for funerals and such.

So...while I left my home...

on the verge of "kicking and screaming"...

no..I didn't go willingly...

I came home with a whole new attitude...

and a desire to 

'get out of the house' more often:)

We saw Hulk Hogan...Carlton (from the Fresh Prince of BelAir)

a batch of VIPs and company gurus...

informative and fun.

 

So...the first evening...we headed out to stay at

the home of one of our cousins who lived only

thirty minutes away...

somehow or other...

we ended up going the wrong way on a busy one way street...

managed to get ourselves turned around..

 

...but ended up driving in a very secluded area

UNDER the Interstate...

it was pretty scary...but we laughed so hard

we almost wet ourselves.

My gosh...what an Adventure!!!

Can't wait till we do it again!

I'm hoping to be a few pounds lighter and in a whole lot better health

by then...

the product is so amazing I feel twenty years younger...

I really do!!

Let me know if you'd like a free sample.