Who Knew ????????????

This is a photo of my great grandmother Robison holding me (yep, I'm the baby).  My Dad on the left and my grandmother on the right.   

 

 A lot has changed since that day 65 summers ago.  Now I wish I had asked more questions through the years - asked my parents what they dreamed or wanted back then?  I wish I'd asked my grandparents about their story and how they met, what their world was like before I came into the picture.  

My parents were barely out of high school, from tiny towns in Arkansas and moved to Gary so my Dad could get a job in the mills there.  Opportunities just were not readily available where they were from so they took a deep breath and left knowing they would see their families maybe once a year after that - it must have been hard. 

Nana & Pop (mom's side)

1. 

 Life was grand  - hot summers and DQ - rides in the car with the windows open and radio on - riding bikes - making tents on the clothesline in the backyard, neighborhood kids everywhere chasing up and down our dead end street.  Iced tea in glasses with terrycloth sweaters on them to catch the sweat, lightning bugs to chase, scraped knees with bandaids, fizzies to drink, bologna or pb & j sandwiches, church every Sunday, Miller Beach on a blanket on weekends and an annual trip each year by car to Arkansas.

Trips to Arkansas - The Farm  ahhhh so many cousins that I adored, aunts and uncles that were so special, the swing and rockers on Granny's front porch, molasses on hot biscuits, peanut brittle cooling on the counter, swimming at the creek, riding on a horse or tractor, singing while Carolyn played piano, walks to Burley's old store to get a bottle of ice cold pop from the cooler, homemade ice cream, red dirt roads, at the gas station Dad would say "fill 'er up ethyl" to the attendant.  Going to church, Sunday school.   Nana's in the City ahhhh swimming at the town pool, going to the town square shopping, aunt Tommie's bedroom with all that fingernail polish and jewelry ;-)  naps on pallets on the floor with the oscillating fan cooling us down (still love that sound), visiting Mr. Crawley and the neighbor down the hill with the big tree that held the swing, more cousins I adored and only Nana could make the best iced tea, burger, chocolate pie, and chocolate chip cookies a girl could ask for and rides to the drive-in complete with carhop.  But the leaving left scars I cannot express - my Mom would get so sad and cry upon leaving - saying Goodbye became something I hated and still find it excruciating.  

As the years roll by it is marked by events mostly so make lots of memories, love a lot, take care of you or you'll be sorry later and don't spend your money collecting "stuff" you'll want to get rid of later LOL...we have way more than we need.

You know.....65 summers sound like a lot when you are 20 - but let me tell you the truth - they go by in a nanosecond.  And there are no do-overs - every T you get to in the road, every decision you make - take you to a new set of decisions and another T in the road - CHOOSE carefully - life is a grand adventure of ups and downs, pain and pleasure, life and death.  

My parents are gone now, I miss  them every day but I am blessed to have a handful of amazing friends.  Time is one of the things you can't buy more of - and none of us knows how much of it we really have so spend it wisely.

Put down your ipad - put down your phone - and live a little !

 

2017.......so hard to believe......

I promise you, the older you get, the faster it goes.
I decided to reflect a bit on the past year and think about what I want in the year to come.
I haven't posted in several years because Facebook seems to have taken over in the social media department where blogs were more popular in years past.  Now it feels like the blog is more for me and my Facebook is communicating with others.

My workplace has seen a lot of changes ending the year with a filing of Chapter 11.  It has been challenging but at the same time I enjoyed being awarded Employee of the Month this year, and was allowed a laptop to work from home in bad weather, and make overtime more convenient.

I had several discoveries this year.

Purging possessions feels great and is easier than you think if you keep in mind that the $$ is already gone.  Keeping "stuff" in closets or boxes for years doesn't make your life easier and I realized I probably would not use this "stuff" and could never live long enough to read all these books!

I finally used ancestry.com to submit my DNA - it has always bothered me that I do not know where my people came from.  I was somewhat surprised with the results.  37% Great Britain 27% Ireland 17% Europe West 6% Scandinavia  and the rest trace amounts scattered in other areas.

I discovered Hillsong channel on TV and their service in NY led by Carl Lentz - love listening to him.  I watched Oprah interview him and liked him right away.

Wonderful series were available for entertainment -

Poldark

Queen Sugar

Greenleaf

Game of Thrones

CSI NY

CSI Miami

House of Cards

Grace and Frankie

Outlander

Orange is the New Black

Lilyhammer

The Crown

Blacklist

Fixer Upper

I finally committed to using Young Living Oils after some research and seeing them bloom everywhere this year.  They are pure, wonderfully made and will have a positive impact on my health and life in 2017.

There was sadness this year as well.  Our country was in turmoil, and there were family members that passed and were no longer with us.  I loved them and know they are in a beautiful place, happy and whole.  It was too soon to lose Prince, George Michaels, Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, ZsaZsa and Davie Bowie to name a few.

I was blessed with many gifts from friends and family - fresh garden tomatoes which I LOVE, cards and letters reaching out to me  which were all so special and I shared time with some very special friends.  We went to the casino, out for breakfast, lunch and dinners.  I was blessed to share Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve with special friends with big hearts.  

My favorite week of the year was the week I finally took a "real" vacation.  Tops on my bucket list was to attend an art retreat so I went to Donna Downey's studio near Charlotte NC where I was inspired, pampered and made new friends.  It surpassed all expectations and I can't wait to do it again!!

I'm sure I haven't listed everything that impacted my year - but wanted to celebrate the end of 2016 and the beginning of a fresh slate - 2017.  My word for 2017 is LISTEN.

 

father's day....

Daddy, Dad, Father.....those words conjure up different memories and feelings for each of us don't they?  For me, it was his constant smile, and always a teasing remark.  He earned those titles young, didn't have any idea what he was doing - but did the very best he could.  Yes, I got lots of spankings, but I learned right from wrong, that you go up the stairs on the right and down on the left, that education was important, it is expected you be early - never late, always prepared.  I was expected to do my very best, that I could do anything, that I could speak my mind and say how I felt,  I mattered, and best of all I never ever doubted  that I was loved.

Yes, I miss my Dad but I know where he is and that I'll be with him again....and just like always when I say "How you doin Dad" he'll give me the answer I still hear when I think of him "bout 90 backwards".....................Happy Father's Day Dad!

i miss my mom......

Mother's Day is such a beautiful celebration of the person who has known me the longest, cared the most, sacrificed, and given me the biggest piece of who I am.  I miss my Mother every day, but never more than each Mother's Day which always gave me an opportunity to tell her how much she meant to me when she was here on Earth.  

While I miss her terribly, I thrill at the absolute knowing that she is pain free and Home.  I was so blessed that God chose her for my Mother, and I never ever forget her humor and wit.   She once gave me a card that said "Happy Birthday to my daughter the princess......from your mother the Queen!"  We laughed and laughed, she was  my best friend.   Yes, I was lucky....blessed....and though I can't see her, I carry her with me in every cell. 

If you still have your Mother - make sure she knows how much you love her.  If you don't, I feel your pain - i miss my mom.   Happy Mother's Day to each and every one of you !!

 

  Happy Easter Blessings to You

I've been away from my blog for a while now, and hope you understand.
I've been doing some reflecting, stopping to smell the roses as they say.
It's one of those time I need to reflect, look at where I am now and make
decisions about what makes me happy ;-) and how to change some things
to lay down more "happy" on the road ahead.

Part of that process has been to privately work in my art journal, try new
techniques, read, read, explore Pinterest, read some more, play with new
colors, improve my photography skills by taking classes, pray and do a lot of
inner work while getting more rest and planning  a much healthier lifestyle.

All of you reading my blog (thank you) from so many beautiful places
in the world are a very important part of my vision moving forward.   My
hope is that you see 'this little light of mine' when I return shining bright,
splashing paint, roaring softly, and sharing pieces of me.  

Each of us is completely unique, enough, loved, perfect, a masterpiece.  We each were made with special gifts and are healing broken places.  I believe our purpose is to use those gifts and I'm working on how to best serve God by using mine.  So let's turn up the volume, dance, share, spread our wings and do what we do best........together.

May you enjoy every minute of this Easter weekend,  and take in all the joys of Spring - see you soon.                                  Linda

I'm a Winner

 I don't know about you, but I love entering a great giveaway.

 You drool over the awesome prize, type a comment and cross your fingers hoping your name is  the one selected!!  I so wanted to win the book about Dog Photography - let's be real....I NEEDED help with dog photography LOL.

 I had just purchased a new DSLR camera and saw a great giveaway from Susan Tuttle.  I already had one of her fabulous books and love her work (see her books here).  So I held my breath and entered my comment thinking how awesome it would be to win this just now when I have a brand new camera and want to learn how to take cool photos of the cutest dog in the world that just happens to live here with me.

Those of you who know me at all know  that I just LOVE LOVE LOVE dogs!!!!  The giveaway was a new book by Lara Blair called "Photographing Dogs" - be still my heart.    You can get one for yourself here.  Imagine my surprise when I came home today and opened the email announcing I had won wahoooooooooooooo.

Thank you Susan and Lara - I'm grateful, so grateful.

I've been here the whole time....

I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything on my blog!  

Forgive me?

It's not for lack of excitement  -  OH I've been busy...I just don't know where the time went...I mean 3 months??????? geesh.   Of course this is where I am most of the time

THE DAY JOB CUBICLE

I'm going to cram in as much news as I can, please do leave a comment and give the the lowdown on what you've been up to this summer..........pleeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzz ;-)

If you have not been to Brown County/Nashville Indiana - run, don't walk.

It's the best time!

Of course I got to stay with my gal pal Joy (that's her on the right) which is the best part!

Arting, eating, laughing til we weep, shopping, talking, you know.

We love to take yummy classes to learn new techniques and this photo is our friend Cindy teaching a class on Art Journaling and Altering Books.   She and her husband Wayne have a darling shop in Nashville called "Papertrix" so don't miss it when you get to town~!  Tell them Red Headed, Left Handed Linda sent you LOL .

A dear sweet friend, Susan has purchased a "Baby First" book from me for each of her grandbabies.  She called and let me know #3 was on the way - so I whipped up a book for her.

 Oh,  Joy and I squeezed in another class with Dina Wakley!! 

  I got ohhhh sooooo inky!!!

 We used sprays, inks and made tags with our new techniques.  

Color color everywhere!  Stamps, stencils and wax OH MY!

This is the inky trio.

Me on the left, Dina center, and Joy on the right.

She closed her eyes so if you forgot what she looks like with them open,

scroll back up to the other photo, ha!

 We had to fit in Cheesecake Factory hmmmmm.

OH SO GOOD.

Hint - if you go make sure you drink a "Georgia Peach"

OMG!

This is my pal Jen Starr teaching at Cafe Crop in Crown Point.

I've taken her classes so many times and I always learn something new

and laugh til I cry.

 We finally got a break in the HOT weather so my brother and I ventured out for a day at the Chesterton European Market.   Cheeses from Bleu to Gouda, Rosemary flatbread, fruits, veggies, Baklava, crafts, and lots of doggies too...it's very pet friendly.

No, Miss Juliet didn't get to go, and I did NOT ride my brother's Harley LOL.

Then we went to the Lake County Fair.  

I had not had a funnel cake in years!

We sat in the shade and watched the crowds.

For everyone who has prayed and sent well wishes, I thank you.

For those who don't know suffice it to say I got the scare of my life a couple months ago when a driver pulled across several lanes right in front of my brother and several others while he was on his Harley.   He was air lifted from a nearby hospital to Christ Advocate Trauma Hospital near Chicago with a brain bleed.

He is doing well, and looks to be blessed with a complete recovery - a miracle.

Following the accident, he has happily retired !

There is plenty of summer left yet, get out there and enjoy every minute!!!!

Oh, and please - tell me alllll about it ;-)

I love comments.