Up for Sale!

Greetings everybody! I have this thing where I forget. I forgot about having this blog! Lord help me!

Anyhows, I have some exciting news to report! My art has really taken off! There was a call for art for a new Boutique opening up here in my little town. I have been so excited! My youngest daughter took to framing my art for me. Let me tell you right here that picture frames are hard to come by in bulk! I found some at my local Dollar General Store and pretty much bought them out. Then I had to travel to the next town east and bought the only box they had in the size I needed. Whew! And now I need MORE frames that size! Not easy to find!

So. As a result of framing and then my daughter photographing and posting to social media I gained more sales and another shop wanting my work! How exciting! I’ve met with both shop owners and left art at the Boutique. Shop number 2, a gifts and floral shop, has picked out works for her shop. Alas, if I only had frames…..I have to wait for my monthly payday on the 3rd of March. Living on a fixed income is a beast.

Never fear. I’m leaving ya’ll with the popular drawing that I’ve had to “copy”. I actually had to draw completely new pix. That way each customer has an original. 😁

Please let me know what ya’ll think. I love the feedback.

Remember to enjoy life. We only have this one.

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Hey Ya’ll!

https://www.scrapbook.com/pages/cards-for-kindness

I know I’ve been MIA for quite some time. I rather keep falling off that proverbial carousel of life. >sigh< Medicine changes aplenty and now faulty lab results. Faulty on my end. Waiting for an endocrinologist now. UGH!

Anyhows, I found the above link towards making blank inside greeting cards. Encouragement cards. If you follow me on Instagram then you have seen some of my index card art. I may well turn some into donated cards myself. Find me there @bbanksvalentine or @peabuttonsmom

I also have a Facebook page. Look for me there under http://www.facebook.com/bonniebanks3163.

I get confused with sharing links sometimes. If you find me please give me a shout.

I’ll leave you with a few pix of what I’ve been doing.

Enjoy!

~ Bonnie aka Peabutton’s Mom

Dog Sitting in a Chrysalis

As a child in grade school there was a time when the teacher had a butterfly cocoon for us to watch. I seem to recall how hard it was watching that thing for the longest time and wondering if the teacher was just playing a trick on us. I mean really, THAT thing is alive??

Honest! Didn’t the caterpillar in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland spin his cocoon and transform into a butterfly in record time? I saw it with my own two eyes!

Then there were my teen and young adult years when I fervently listened to the musical team of sisters called Heart (or was it Hart?). Anyhow, I remember a popular song about the Dog and Butterfly. Although I can’t recall the words to that song at this moment I assure you if it were to come on the radio I could sing every word and not miss a single note.

Present day. I have previously written about Mosey Cottage and most recently referred to this house as being in the chrysalis stage. Days on end pass and I see more WRONG with the two livable rooms than what I see being done with the rest of the house. BUT I recently had a tidbit of stirring that was made visible to me. The kids had a couple of contractors to come in and evaluate the need for offering their estimates. I met the first man. I liked him. He was excited about his craft and saw the opportunity to work for us and still be able to have a bit of leeway in what he loves to do. My son in law liked him too. I was told that they most likely will go with this man’s estimate. Maybe. The second man I never met. I understand he acted like his work was a drudgery and he could care less. Phooey on the nay-sayer who wants to drag his feet! (I still expect the chrysalis to spin and produce a beautiful butterfly like Alice’s caterpillar).

What does a dog have to do with any of this? >sigh< Cub is a hound dog. A mix breed of hunting dogs. He points and flags. Forget the heeling. He pulls and drags if you fall while trying to manage his leash. Forget the hunting although his nose is always sniffing something to track. And I do believe he’d just as soon EAT a butterfly as to chase it. This is my daughter’s dog. NOT mine! My Daisy is much cuter (wink wink).

My daughter has been roughing it in the front two rooms of my Mosey Cottage for nearly a year now. Family stuff happens and jobs change and now I find myself “dog sitting” so she can keep her job. You see, Cub suffers from severe separation anxiety. He has broken through three windows, two doors, torn up the carpet, shredded a couch…..need I say more? As long as he is WITH somebody he knows he is fine.

He is a bit tamer and a little more behaved since I started keeping him. I usually keep him in Mosey Cottage. In fact I have spent enough time there that I’m beginning to feel a bit more like maybe someday I WILL be living there. Sure keep hoping so!

It is interesting to watch a chrysalis from the inside. It isn’t what I had expected. I mean who would have ever believed me if I told them that this chrysalis is helping to transform a DOG?

I’m still expecting the butterfly….

Merry Christmas Ya’ll!

Cub in his hound dog cuteness….

 

 

 

Timeless Encouragement

cast your bread

Here we are between holidays and I am finding myself cleaning out my emails. Sadly there are a great many pages of unread emails from two years ago! One such email I want to share with you. I find the words of this blogger to be as fresh for me as if she had written them yesterday. There can always be a renewal, a regeneration, if you will, of reading words with a fresh approach. Much like re-reading a well loved book. You always enjoy it and every time you turn a page you find a renewing of the words.

The words of this blogger left me with a realization for my life. I feel so much of the time that I have so very little to share. But when I share with others then we are both enriched and have more than when we started. In compliance with the words of that email I do believe my word for this new year to come is “SHARE”. I must do more sharing in 2015. Much more sharing than I ever have. And that sharing begins here.

Enjoy…..

http://www.faithbarista.com/2013/01/why-you-must-write-when-you-have-very-little-to-offer/#comment-58033

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas to all who come across my little blog and blessings abundant I pray for you!

10 ft tree in a 12 ft ceiling

10 ft tree in a 12 ft ceiling

I was lamenting earlier this evening, the eve of the Eve, about the fact that to many I am just an old lady. Lamenting because I have been feeling the loneliness of the elderly. Thus far this year I have not been to a single party. I have not yet tasted any of the Seasonal foods and sweets except for a small bit of store bought fruitcake. Yeah, I’m one of those odd people that LIKES fruitcake. I haven’t had occasion to dress in festive clothing. I could dress up here at home but my dog really doesn’t care and I really don’t want to clean the dog hair off the good stuff. I’ve wrapped a handful of gifts and bagged the rest. Made loads of items that I just didn’t have the energy or desire to wrap. Haven’t decorated. All the bagged gifts are hanging out of my bedroom closet. And to top everything off I’ve been under the weather. >sigh<

In my melancholy I’ve had much opportunity to watch the world hustle and bustle along, all in a frenzy, over-spending and over-eating and some even over-drinking. I watch at how the “Christmas” shows on TV are now considered “holiday” and how so many of them don’t point to the real cause of Christmas. Save Charlie Brown. But he was tucked away on odd nights when most people wouldn’t watch.

I watch. And then I began to marvel. What would the world have done if Jesus had not been born at that time, or even at all for that matter? I wonder what concoction or abhorition would have been devised to occupy people’s minds. Christmas is a HOLY day. It is celebrated world wide, warm and cold weather, regardless of belief.

I shan’t get “preachy”. Don’t you just despise “preachy” people? I will just sit back and watch the world go by. Later in the morning, for it is Christmas day now, I will load up the car with all the bags and gifts and begin my trek about two counties delivering presents to friends and family and to many who can’t get out. I come in my red car. Can’t say I will be wearing a red suit but I will dress up for the occasion. Santa comes in all forms don’t you know.

Do you have an elderly friend or neighbor? Why not consider a brief visit with a plate of cookies or even a plate of your leftovers? (Many times I’ve been THRILLED to get my daughter’s leftovers….).  Share your festive spirit with others and don’t forget to wish them a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Let’s Write!

Many years ago I had a pen pal.  Since my youth I have enjoyed writing letters and sending cards. But a few years ago I went through such a dark time in my life that I wasn’t even getting junk mail! It was a horrific feeling, to not even be recognized as an “occupant”. With this said I invite you to read the following forwarded post and at least consider mailing out those Christmas cards. It doesn’t matter if the recipient gets it “on time”. It matters that somebody thought enough to write.

postcards

http://blog.freepeople.com/2014/12/postcards-letters-love-notes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freepeoplefeed+%28Free+People+Clothing+Boutique+Blog%29

Reflections on My Life

He knows my name

Good Sabbath to one and all!

A wonderful Pastoral friend whom I’ve known since childhood inspired me yesterday. He spoke of how he is touched by this song and his inability to finish the song because of his own emotion with the lyrics. A lady in his congregation asked him to sing anyway. Today may be the day.

Here is the video mix. Only shy over 3 minutes long. I lived to tell you. Somebody else did not.

Please watch with an open heart.

Blessings,

Bonnie

 

A Road Less Travelled

Good Day one and all!

Take a look at this picture I took last year. It’s only an access road and yet it beckons for so much more. A little road with ruts and puddles, on top of a small levee with a drastic drop off on either side. A Road that some travel for the fishing. A Road that some use for their farm equipment. Seldom used. A Road that beckons. Travelled by deer. Lifted up by songs of birds. Hugged by thistle and thorn, persimmon and milkweed. A busy Road with life all around. Located near town is this Road. Overlooked and under appreciated by nearly all. Passed by daily. A Road less traveled.

Today I challenge you to find your Road. What beckons you? Do you pass it by every day? Take a few moments to enjoy the Road less travelled today. The hallway on another floor. The alley out back. The walkway along the side of the house. Imagine, if you can, that you are seeing it for the first time. A traveler in a new land. You will be amazed at what you’ve missed. It’s been there all along. Beckoning. Waiting.

Enjoy!Image