As you can plainly see from my last post, I did NOT figure anything out about inserting pics that would not be UPSIDE DOWN!! I think I will just pretend that it was supposed to just BE that way. I mean, any artist will tell you that you can stand back and 'squint' while looking at your work and you will get a new perspective! So just stand back, folks, and view my art journal 'upside down' and ENJOY!! I have been exploring 'pen and ink' the past 2 weeks in my journal ( which actually means I have created a lot of INK BLOBS').  Hey, at least I can laugh about it and it helps my blood pressure which definitely has been an issue I have been dealing with!  Currently, my head is spinning trying to figure out what I need to be eating! I'm sure you already know that I can't use my salt shaker any more! I actually never used a LOT of salt but now that I know I am not SUPPOSED to add any salt to ANYTHING--I find myself looking longingly at the 2 lovely little cut glass bottles sitting on my shelf! But I'm being a good sport about it...I don't even put any salt in my morning oat bran!  I'll bet you want to know how that tastes...SALTLESS is how it tastes! But, I am eating it that way! I have a good friend who recommends the Blood Type Diet and another friend and her doctor that recommends the South Beach Diet and a nurse daughter that recommends the Dash Diet. Well, I'm reading and taking notes and getting confused and taking the meds the doctors gave me and drinking ginger tea, and taking deep breaths, and walking  etc. etc. etc! One food that all three of those diets have in common is fish--salmon, especially, AND sardines! I am trying my best to find a store that sells salmon (or ANY fish) that does not come from CHINA! Does anybody sell AMERICAN FISH??? I did find one at Kroger that was CAUGHT in the U.S. But it was PROCESSED in CHINA!!  The sardines are another story!  I could actually eat THOSE--if I could figure out a way to not SMELL them going into my mouth! But my nose is too close to my mouth! I never knew food could be so wearisome! I will pass along any good tidbits I can find--just in case you all ever need to know what you can eat if your blood pressure decides to start acting up!

Figuring Things Out

GeoTagged, [N32.97450, E83.65581]

Well! Finally, I was able to get 1 pic posted! There has to be a way to add more! Oh well! Hope you enjoy this one. It is a combination of sponge painting, collage, drawing, and a few stamps!

AAAUUUGGGHH! It is UPSIDE DOWN!

ART THERAPY

Tonight I 'played' in my art journals! I can leave all my worries and just focus on the page I am working on--it really helps me to be able to relax. I can see why it is called art 'therapy'! I thought that I would share a few pages with you all--hope you enjoy looking at them!

A Quiet Morning

How very quiet the world seems this morning! When I took Mr. Morgan out, I realized that a gentle rain must have occurred during the night. It may not have been gentle at all--I have been known to sleep through monstrous thunderstorms! But everything outside looked bathed in much-needed moisture. Even Mr. Morgan noticed and was hesitant to venture forth! Usually, there is quite a chatter going on amongst the birds--but not today. Perhaps the whole busy world was just sleeping-in. After all it IS Saturday! As I came back up to the porch, I pulled a few stray weeds that had sprung up right in front of the steps. Why can't my flowers grow for me like all my weeds do? I think that for every weed I pull--5 more replace it! But this morning even the weeds look content and quiet! A nice and quiet restful morning! UMMMM!!! I dot not need to go ANYWHERE and although there are many, many things that I need to get done, I am simply enjoying the quietness and peacefulness surrounding me. I DO wonder where all the birds are though! Sometimes they can be really LOUD! I DID see a squirrel running across the backyard and was hoping you-know-who would NOT see it. He must not have because as soon as he was finished with his 'business', he quickly ran back to the porch! The August sun is creeping higher in the sky and will soon make being outside almost unbearable. How grateful I am for air conditioners! I am such a baby! We never had an air conditioner when I was growing up! I cannot even imagine what that would be like now! I do remember my sister and I taking 'turns' fanning each other at night! Hmmm! Precious memories-- oh how they linger! Well, the time has come for me to start tackling that wonderful, ever- growing list called the 'To-Do' list! I wonder how many items I can get crossed off today!

Another Indiana Day

Here I am back in Indiana!  It looks cold and windy outside.  It was So windy Sunday that almost all of the beautiful leaves on the huge oak tree in the back yard were blown off.  Sheri and Nathan came down for Bobbie's funeral--I cannot believe I am saying that--I and everyone else are just in shock--SHE CAN'T HAVE DIED!  Sheri told me that she was going to stay a week with me and then she wanted me to go home with her--so I said okay.  But then Nathan could not get an airline ticket for less than $300 .....SO.....we all loaded up and came to Indiana the next day!  The tote bags I had carried to Bobbie's- I just piled into their car.  Even a Vera Bradley tote full of my vitamins--THAT should present quite a predicament at the airport going home!  They just better not throw out my 4ozbottle of Emu Oil that Bobbie and I found while reading the Market Bulletin one day!  "hey, listen to this," Bobbie said, "Emu Oil--helps all kinds of arthritis pain--AND they live right here in Conyers," "Well give me the number and I'll call and find out about it!" I said.  And, you know what we found out--it Really DOES work! Well, I'm sure Sheri and Nathan will figure something out.  I seem to be getting stronger-not as shaky as I was when I first got here. Baby Grayson is helping a lot. He is making me smile and laugh!  Today reminds me of the time that Bobbie and I came to visit Sheri. It was windy and rainy--a curled-up- with- a- book kind of day. Sheri and Nathan were working and we slept late.  We were all cozy in our pj's and were playing Word With Friends on ONE iPad-passing it back and forth, when Sheri called and said, "Hi Mom, Stacy and I are on our way home!"  YIKES!!!Bobbie and I jumped up from there-slung on some clothes-raked thru our hair-slapped on some makeup and just barely made it down the stairs when the girls came in!  We probably looked like the Cheshire Cat smiling when we noticed that Sheri was NOT smiling. Disappointedly she asked "Mom, did you NOT make the spaghetti?"  Bobbie and I looked blankly at each other asking "We're we SUPPOSED to make spaghetti ?"  My gracious Indiana daughter smoothed it all over by reassuring us it was okay- she had some frozen food she could fix for her and Stacy.  Of course, that was AFTER she told us she had asked BOTH of us if we would make some spaghetti for lunch and pointed out the noodles and sauce she had left ON THE COUNTER! Oh well, I probably don't need to tell you that we have never lived that down!!  It rained on and off the entire week. Sheri thought that while we were there we could build a pergola!?!?!? Now, Bobbie said that I was the one who said "Sure we can", but what I remember was HER saying "Sure we can".  Regardless of WHO said it--there we were trying to figure out HOW to do it! It rained SO much that all we were able to get done was to dig the 4 holes and set the posts before we had to fly home! There was a wonderful ending though.  Nathan's dad sent one of his workers to help Nathan finish it and it turned out beautiful!  PLUS, we discovered a very easy to use and unique hole digger--one you twist instead of jab!  I will tell you though that when Nathan brought it out, Bobbie and I BOTH said, "No, we need a HOLE DIGGER--you know, it has two handles" BOY WERE WE IN FOR A SURPRISE! This hole digger has 1 vertical handle and 1 horizontal handle which you twist round and round!  We could not believe how easy it was to dig those 4 holes! After we got home Bobbie got on the Internet, found them and ordered 2--one for her and one for me!  I am trying very hard to keep my mind on all the fun things we did together.  At the visitation, I met a man who said to me,"She always made a point to speak to me at church"--always had a smile for him, always made him feel important. WOW, how I wish that could be said about me--that I always made other people feel important! On Sunday night Sammy and I were staying at the hospital with Bobbie. She kept trying to get out of bed. She wanted to go home. She was scared. She was talking to Sammy about WHY she had to stay in bed and I heard her say "Hold Me".  Then I saw Sammy reach down and pull her up to him and he just held her.  I will always TREASURE that memory-it was so precious!  Later as she was getting weaker and weaker, I witnessed another precious moment.  I saw Kim take Kristi's hand and they leaned over close to Bobbie and said, "Mama, if JESUS is calling you, it is okay if you go--we will be okay."  Not long after that she left this world.  We all were with her--her husband, her children, her grandchildren, along with me, some of my children and others. I have a question for each of you who are reading this--if you slipped and fell going to get a pack of crackers like Bobbie did--if you met with death today--WOULD YOU HEAR JESUS CALLING YOU--or would you go out into eternity separated from God FOREVER? I urge each of you to really think this out NOW.  Bobbie used to tell me  "Connie, we have NO guarantee of tomorrow!"  When the time comes for me -- I KNOW that I will hear my JESUS calling me and I will go to Him for all eternity-- for I belong to HIM!   AND-- I will see my precious sister and we will sing in that Heavenly choir!  There are many things about God and the Bible and Life that I DO NOT KNOW NOR UNDERSTAND-- but one thing I do know-- MY REDEEMER LIVES--JESUS CHRIST IS REAL--and when He calls me, I will go to Him.  As I stood at Bobbie's bedside and watched as my dearest earthly friend , my wonderful buddy, the last thread of my immediate family left this world, I still stood in AWE of the God of this universe.
"When I consider Thy Heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, what is man that Thou are mindful of him?...." Psalm 8:3-4. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

PAY ATTENTION!!!!

Well I am sitting in Newton County Hospital where my sister just had surgery for a broken hip. She came through surgery fine but her oxygen level dropped after the surgery and she spiked a fever--102.7 in fact! After a CT scan, it was determined that she has pneumonia in BOTH lungs. She is now on a ventilator. To say it has been a frightening experience is putting it mildly. All she wanted was a pack of peanut butter malt crackers from the QT gas station! I guess we just never know what may happen in a day! So what is it I need to pay attention to?
For one--there are a whole lot of people who are worse off than we are! Since being here 2 people have died with one of those being a 48 year old woman who had spinal meningitis. Her family had to make the difficult decision to unplug the life support system. Today, while sitting with my sister a nurse came in and asked the nurse who is taking care her "where are the bags?" to which our nurse asked "the body ones?". Then she told her where they were. Now, I am sitting there thinking--"bags? Body ones? Ummmm....body bags...another death?" I just kept my mouth shut where normally, I would have had several questions about THAT conversation. I need to pay attention to the fact that my sister just has a ventilator and be GRATEFUL for that. Then another night a very young and healthy looking man come in after some kind of 'altercation ' with a very beat up body--while down in the ER about 5 police cars with blue lights flooding the entire area were hanging out!! I need to pay attention to the fact that I am not dealing with THAT situation...I need to pay attention to all the ways that God shows himself faithful to us. He has provided a very nice room for our family to stay in while waiting to see my sister. It even has its own private bathroom. Several of the chairs in here let out into a bed-- THANK YOU FATHER FOR YOUR PROVISIONS!! This morning as I was reading in My Utmost For His Highest, I read this: " We are apt to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching, it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. , into character...meant to make us something."
My character...hymmmm...Lord Jesus, help me to respond to things that happen in my life as you would have me to.

Testing

Didn't know if this would work!