Memorial Day: Thank You

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He Runs in My Dreams...

 

Forever. I've been thinking & dreaming of my best bud Archie a lot lately. He came to us when he was a very rough & tumbly puppy & I was a very fragile 6 months out of brain tumor surgery. We bonded like super glue. He learned to stand against my bedside when I was having bad headaches or bad days. My son even brought him to therapy to cheer me up! He helped me learn to walk again, I am convinced. I would go outside with him and walk first the gravel drive, then the paths through the woods. I talked to him constantly so that he was helping me with my speech therapy. He was always right there when I fell down as if to help me up or offer encouragement. I did use him to help me up several times as he was quite sturdy & I wasn't. He loved Christmas & opened his presents with great abandon. I still have a basket full of pinecones he brought me over the years. Archie ran into his final glorious field forever chasing a lovely stick almost two years ago, and I still cry at the thought. Luckily, I dream about him many times, and in my dreams, I am running with him.

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It was a nice Mother's Day!

Talked to my Mom yesterday after she received the card/bookmark I made for her.

Those are photos of some of my flowers in the butterfly's wings. Blackberries & wild sumac are the body. She really liked it, as she is going through a big move in a few weeks.

Then today, I got to have lunch with my favorite daughter & my favorite son & favorite daughter in law! And it was at my favorite restaurant. And of course, Himself was there too. The son had designed his own wrapping paper. Very proud, I was of him. And the daughter had a wonderful book in progress that we went over page by glorious page with coffee later. Plus a little art talk & art shopping. It was all good.

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Patricia Neal

I read in the paper today that the actress, Patricia Neal, was awarded a Lifetime achievement award at the Nashville Film festival. Good on her, I say. She is a great actress and did something wonderful that touched my life personally. She started a rehabilitation center for people who suffer strokes or, as in the case of myself, have other brain injuries. I spent about a month there and those folks were just stupendous in helping get me on my feet again, literally. (Well, I still had another year in therapy to go, & I left in a brace & rolling off in a wheelchair...but that's about insurance, not the rehab) I had the great pleasure and honor of meeting Ms Neal about a year after my surgery, and I must say I was inspired. Not ga-ga like movie star struck, just quietly inspired.  For someone in my position, it is people like Ms Neal, Sen Specter, Lance Armstrong, & Christopher Reeve who keep me on that tread mill day after day. As in "look what they've done, now what can I do?" Well, me, Himself & my grown kids are in my head too. Dang, it gets a little crowded up there at times!

But a big thank you Ms Neal, you get my Lifetime Achievement

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Award, also.

A Butterfly's World

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is from a photo I took a couple of days ago of a butterfly (duh) in a cherry tree. Spring really did make here finally. The tree was "buzzing" with butterflies and one cat who wanted those butterflies. I liked the photo ooc, but of course had to play around with it in Photoshop. Really like the results. I stayed fairly simple, only adding 2 brushes and a couple of filters. Sometimes simple works. So this is how I imagined butterflies see the world as they zoom around.

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Spring, No Really!

Himself brought me this Dogwood blossom that blew down in last night's storm. It cheered me up though the weather has gone back to being brr cold. This is supposed to be spring, not winter. The Redbuds are out, the Virginia bluebells, the Dogwoods, and the Iris' have their heads on. Now last year at this time, we had a horrible freeze, & all those poor things were frozen & died back. The Hostas looked bad all year, & everything looked just plain blah. Course the freeze was followed by the worst drought in about 100 years. So there ya go. But this Dogwood blossom, though fallen, brought me a bit of happiness for a while & will live on forever - digitally! Now everything isn't so bad.

3 of Hearts collage

Yes, I admit I have a problem. I really like flamingos! I don't know why exactly. Though the color is wonderful, and the seeming of gawkiness is endearing. They are different, but wonderful in their difference. Do I connect personally to this? Maybe, maybe. Meanwhile, I'll keep making collages with vintage flamingos and enjoying their beautiful gawky graceful differences!