A TASTE OF HAVANA/CIGAR BOXES

Yesterday I called a cigarette store, no,  not for cigarettes, but for empty CIGAR BOXES and he said he had quite a few but they go fast. I stopped by and picked up a few. Some were $1.99, 2.99 and even 6.00 or more. The one's I got were $2.99 and three of them are excellent pine wood. The other is what feels like heavy particle board. None the less these boxes are just divine. I love them.



I suppose they can be used for a variety of things and for some reason I just can't see painting over them because they are beautiful just how they are. I had thought of making a shrine out of one of them but I have 3 or 5 pine boxes that I bought at Michael's that I haven't done anything with as of yet.

I've become infatuated with these boxes,  and am drawn to their style and artwork. They remind me of boxes that were used for jewelery, odds and ends, cards, baseball cards, a woman's curler's (tee hee),  and much much more. Of course these boxes were never used for any of that because they held cigars. The funny thing is that they don't even have the scent of the cigars.

They are four corners of beauty and I want to crawl inside this Taste of Havana box, and feel small and cuddly.

So there you go, a little taste of BOXES that were meant for CIGARS but now will have a home here with me. What I decide to do with them remains to be seen. For now I'll stack them in my studio and look at them and get ideas from others who adorn these boxes. As I said though, before I ruin the beauty of these boxes, I'd much rather use the pine boxes I bought at Michael's. They are about the size of this Taste of Havana box.

Look at this BOLIVAR box. The color and design are very creative.

So here they are, all FOUR of THEM. I sit and admire their beauty, don't you?

Have a great weekend. I'm done with cleaning and cooking and am now going outside to enjoy some of the sun, even though it's still pretty cold. I plan on visiting some sites this evening and of course commenting. I've haven't been visiting much because I'm caught up in something that I'm working on, but I will be visiting.

Enjoy.

Viva La Vida!

A previous post from 2008

I am so happy that Mely who is having her molcajete giveaway, that I posted about previously, posted about such a beautiful instrument of love. I love molcajetes and entered the giveaway and then decided against it because I was being greedy because I have 3, so I bowed out of the giveaway with a Tee Hee. (tee hee):))

I don't want to be selfish or greedy and hope that the person that uses it puts it to good use.

So I decided to link an old post from 2008 that shows my MOLCAJETES.

LIFE IS GREAT and so is blogging because MEMORIES COME ALIVE WHEN WE SHARE.

Thanks MELY.

Here's the link in case you'd like to read and see pix of an older post.

MOLCAJETE

(CHILI'S)

I shall return later to do another post but for now, have a great day, live, laugh, and be happy and careful.

Mely's Giveaway



Mely over at Mexico In My Kitchen is having a great giveaway and that's the picture above of what she is giving away.
A MOLCAJETE for grinding chili's, garlic, etc. Stop by her blog to read about the traditional Mexican cooking utensils. I think you will love her post and her beautiful blog with tons of recipes. All FOOD and LOVE in a wonderful blog. 

Viva traditional utenstils, you ROCK!

http://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/2011/02/traditional-mexican-cooking-utensils.html#comment-form

Ready For The Day Continued....



So the shopping is done! I had looked all over for my special shoes and I figured I better go get them before they are out of my size. I was lucky they were at Walmart. I like the Walmart on McHenry Avenue better than the one on Sisk Road. The one on Sisk is getting very messy. the clothes are all mixed up, the attendants don't fold the clothes up and they are scattered all over the place. I'm sticking to McHenry Avenue and besides at this Walmart they have everything. Lots of great veggies and a variety of things. Yay!!





Here are my shoesies. Tee Hee I decided to get two pairs, black and brown. The store runs out fast , so now Spring and Summer are taken care of.

Now I'm off to do housework, take my vitamins, wash clothes, think of what to make for dinner and then at 2:00pm watch General Hospital. I made myself a latte and sat outside to watch and listen to the birds earlier. It was wonderful, because it's a beautiful day.

HAVE A WONDERFUL REST OF THE DAY.



Ready For The Day

She woke this morning feeling chipper. The way she felt reminded her of the birds chirping outside.

She felt bright eyed and bushy tailed. She took her shower and felt even more invigorated and then

She drank her coffee, put on her sweats and tennis shoes

and proceeded to walk out the door.



As she stood outside the door looking up at the sky, the daily prayer was said,  and this time she asked that could she please stay feeling the way she felt now. Alive and happy and wanting to do the good things in life. She said her Amen's and jumped in her car and headed to Walmart, where she would buy her sandals for Spring.

Her Earth Spirit genuine  leather sandals to ready herself for what was to come. LIFE in it's GLORY!

Sooooo, If I'm not home, I'm at Walmart looking/shopping or at Curves exercising,  or at the grocery store. Please call me later.

:DDD

Journal Pages 2011

It's been raining...Today it did pour but when you have to go out in the rain, you go.



Shopping center in the wee hours of the morning

Where I go to feel better for at least 45 minutes

Of course when I get home I sometimes pick up my journal and doodle

A little of that and a little of this



and however it ends up, it's okay because it feels so much better to have exercised and then come home and doodle. I find this invigorating. Well, most of the time.;)

Hope you are all having a great weekend. Tomorrow potato salad, hot dogs and pork and beans. I've been doing really good staying away from meat. Tomorrow though, I will have an ALL BEEF hot dog with all the trimmings.

Studio time tomorrow to finish up some bangles and pendants and start on a canvas, I hope.

Have a great Sunday.



I won a OWOH giveaway! Yay!

"The winner of Six Body Butter Hearts in organza bag is: Gloria of Gloria's Blog Viva La Vida"

Betty Lee  picked my name as one of her winner's for OWOH event. I won these beautiful bars of delightful scent as she says, and her descriptions of these bars reads as such and I quote:

"Lotion in a bar! Our soothing, handmade body butter bars are all-natural and come in a variety of delightful scents or unscented. They never dry out and will last about 30 days (the larger bars will last almost 3 months!). These are NOT soaps, so you don't need to add water. Simply rub in your hands and the oils come to the surface. Then gently rub them all over your body to provide a light but long-lasting softness to your skin. The Shea butter and coconut oil heals and moisturizes. Cures cracked scaly skin in less than a week if used daily!" (unquote)

Thank you very much Betty, I will definitely make use of these bars of softness and am looking forward to using them. I'm very happy to win and THANK YOU very much. If you get a chance, stop by her blog/shop, Betty has many wonderful items for sale. I can smell them from here. Mmmmm.

I shall return later. Right now I'm cleaning up  house a little. We plan on watching Wall Street tonight. In between I will be going out to the studio for a little to finish off the new bangles/pendants I'm working on and some journaling. Have a great Saturday!

You Tube Journal Video Day

Connie from The Dirty Footprints Studio always has such great classes as well as a wonderful blog.  If you get a chance stop by her blog, she always has something interesting going on.

I'm going to be busy throughout the day and thought I'd pop in to say hello. It's raining but I have to go to the post office to mail my giveaways, stop at the store and pick up a few things. Treadmill day today. It has been really cold around here so I'm wearing long johns to keep my legs warm and thick socks. I hope I can put my shoes on over the socks. Tee Hee. Have a great day, I'll be back later this evening.
This is another workshop video. I think they all are interesting but I have to say that Connie has so many videos and her's are really the greatest I've run across.

2011 OWOH WINNER

Thanks to everyone who entered, it was very nice meeting you all and a special thanks to Lisa who put a lot of work into this event. Congratulations to Lisa and her efforts, another great success!

The TWO winners for this event are:

Comment #151 on my post-Marie Segal  from Art From My Heart and her number on the OWOH list was #442  and comment #159 on my post-Brenda Hutchings from bwh2quality handmade stuff from Indiana, and her number on the OWOH list was #701, both selected with our trusty friend Random.org.

Marie on the left and Brenda on the right.

I will be mailing these to you as soon as you email me your addresses. I have contacted you via email just a few ago and now I'm posting this post.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Journaling/wip

Taking a time out before I start dinner or actually just warm up last night's dinner,  to do a short upload of what I'm drawing right now in one of my large journals.



Unfortunately the paper is starting to buckle up with the wet water color. Not much I can do on that.

Don't forget, tomorrow is OWOH D/day and I will be drawing the names. I may do it earlier than called for because I may be busy or not be home. So look for it tomorrow early on.

I sound a little "blah" today, and that's probably because I can't get back into painting. I want to paint on canvas and the canvas just stands there in a corner waiting for me. I look at the canvas, turn around and walk out of the studio. I'm getting moody, as the month of March is not a good one for me,  and that is coming up soon. I haven't painted anything on canvas since January.

I'm thinking of trying something different, a different style of painting. Funny faces, ugly faces, silly faces, sad faces, but I can't get to it. I can't even sketch anything out. Sketching is something I don't do. My way of painting is to look at a white blank canvas, gesso it,  incorporating some color in the gesso, let it dry and just paint whatever comes to mind and it's usually the same  type of painting as above. I have to try something different.  I may just start sewing things and making little quilts or just something to keep the imagination going. I may surprise myself.

I hope everyone has a great evening. Tonight is American Idol day and it's on the menu. Tomorrow is a better day and as Rebecca said earlier today in her post and I'll remember it for tomorrow,

"i love this quiet clean slate of morning.

mystery becoming light all over again. the practice

of seeing with new eyes as the

world around me comes into focus."

Those are beautiful words Rebecca and I hope you don't mind that I quoted you. I look for tomorrow to be a better day and her words actually give me spirit for tomorrow's journey.

Have a great evening everyone.

I now have all my books. Yay!

Well I have all my blogging books from the year 2008 to the end of 2010. I had previously deleted 2007 so I am sad I did that. I have my bangles book, my artwork book and now all my blogging entries in books for future decades to come. There is a Section One for 2008, Section One and Two for 2009 and then a Section One and Two for 2010. All caught up and definitely not regretting a penny spent. It's well worth it because now I'm documented so to speak.:))) Ask me what I did on a certain day and I might be able to tell you pretty quick. Wellllll, not everything is in these books, but quite a bit.

Here is a link to see the books or another version of the books.

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/36871855@N02/5448954583/

Old Lady Gloria

I saw this lady at the grocery store

who kept trying to read the labels on the packages.

She kept rummaging around in her purse,

and finally she pulled out her glasses.

I might add that they were George Burns type of glasses.

She finally was able to read the labels,

and I kept hearing her say, no not that, no not that!

I asked her if there was something in particular

that she was looking for and she looked at me

as if I was interfering and shook her head. So I just turned around and

started to walk away. I turned around and

looked back at her and she was still

reading the labels.  I asked one of the worker's

there if they could help the older lady with glasses in

aisle 4 because she didn't seem to be finding what she wanted.

It was weird because as I passed back again to go to another aisle,

she was still in the same place with the worker.

He was holding a package up and reading the ingredients to her

and she was  nodding her head and then shaking her head and

then she shook her hand at him as if to send him away.

I heard him say okay and he walked away. I seen the worker and

asked him if the lady had found what she was looking for

and he said that he didn't know because she didn't want

to accept his help either.

So why am I typing this? I didn't have anything to post about.

Plus I thought it was interesting that when you try to help

someone when they look like they need a little help, they are

not accepting of it. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps they don't trust

anyone and

just don't want to be bothered by anyone. I hope

when I get to be that age, which isn't that far down the road,

I will be able to accept whatever help someone

may be willing to give me. I hope I don't turn into a grouch and a

MEANY. I want to be a nice OLD woman who says, "Yes dear, No dear,

Why certainly dear, Please dear, If you can dear."

Well maybe that is over doing it, but I do want to be

a nice old lady.

(free pix)

V/Day Giveaway Winner

There were only 10 entries for the V/Day giveaway and I can never figure out how to put the generator with the number given on my post. I copy but this is what comes up. So after checking to see who number 3 is and I better do it again to be sure......checking....Yes it is CATHY BUETI! Congratulations Cathy, you are the winner. Please email me your address and I will get your winning out to you this week. I will let you know when it goes out. Thanks to everyone for playing.

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 10

Result:

3

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

 



(FREE)

In MY Lifetime....and memory 2

There are and will be many many things that I will desire to do. Most of them though, will be down to earth possible things. Since "we" (husband and I) share our moments together, there will be times when wanting to be "alone" will come about. We do just about every thing together and this can start feeling like we don't have a life of our own at times. Being without him though, is something I would never want. Maybe a few days apart or even a week is something that can be handled. Right now I'm happy that we will spend a wonderful Valentine's Day together.

It's rather weird thinking about this during this time of year when V/Day is just a couple of days away and V/Day being our anniversary and all. It just popped into my head while watching that video I have on my sidebar that's located towards the bottom, about a weeks cooking class in Mexico. You can click on the video to watch it but if you want to know more about it, you have to go here:  Mexican Cooking. For some reason I saw myself walking by those nopale fields and even patting the German Shepherd that is in the video.

When Estela the cook started talking with her accent, I felt I had to be there. When they laughed I wanted to join in the laughter and hear it echo amongst the fields. I checked on the price and it is reasonable, but then the fear of flying passed over me and also the fear of what goes on in that country. So as much as that is one of the things I desire to do, I will have to find a place here in my country that can offer a similar package and am sure not to find a close comparison.


From the YOUTUBE description:  "Estela Salas Silva and her Mexican Home Cooking School offers a course well beyond what is usually understood to be Mexican food. A rich cuisine developed in the Tlaxcala/Puebla area of Mexico in pre-Hispanic times. Added to and enhanced during Spanish and French occupations it resulted in a kitchen rich, subtle and complex as any in the world. This level of sophisticated gourmet cooking was kept in households for special occasions. It is almost never found in restaurants and nearly lost to the present generation."

It's a great package with a room, learning and cooking, cooking techniques, and probably just kicking back enjoying the scenery and the little town that is not too far from where Estela's home is at. Planning, dreaming, and actuality are good words to think about this year. Perhaps this year I will do something "different." Let's hope so.

Memory 2: I remember sitting at the kitchen, watching my step-mom make tortillas. She was just making tortilla after tortilla. She rolled out one, put it on the grill, finished rolling at least 2 more before the first was cooked,  and put them in a straw basket with a clean dish cloth. She'd turn to look at me sitting quietly and ask if I wanted one with butter and by that time I was salivating because I could smell the beans cooking, and the rice was cooking slowly,  and now the tortillas. Daddy was coming home soon, because this was a daily thing and I really looked forward to this. In the back of my mind though, was the thought of another lady, but someone I couldn't remember, just flashes that I didn't understand at the age of maybe 4?

I think that all moments, past, present and future, will always exist.



(from tortillapress.org)

Of course I should have posted my own masa with my rolling pin since I am just going to the kitchen to make tortillas and have the masa ready to roll out. I made turkey mole, rice and a fresh pot of beans. Hasta Luego!

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY, WE'LL BE GONE MOST OF THE DAY. ENJOY YOUR VALENTINE'S DAY!





Journaling and "Memories."

journaling according to About.Com and I quote, 

"As for the health benefits of journaling, they've been scientifically proven. Research shows the following:


•Journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma, arthritis, and other health conditions.

•It improves cognitive functioning.

•It strengthens the immune system, preventing a host of illnesses.

•It counteracts many of the negative effects of stress." (unquote)

All this could be true, but I still have my arthritis flowing freely through my bones. Although some of the other seems to be working. I think it's great if these things have been scientifically proven. That means that  a lot of people are doing a lot better than they were prior to journaling. It's a good article to read.

I was visiting another blog this morning, Steve's  , or perhaps this p.m. and was reading what he had posted about someone who he knew  who every time he had a memory of anything that might have happened in his childhood, he wrote it down and now the person is up to at least 500 memories of his childhood. Awesome! Thanks Steve, for the idea.

I really think that is a great idea and in effect, it is actually a journal I think of his friends childhood. Don't you think? I am going to start doing that starting today and with me I will try very hard to remember, but I do know that memory banks of my age when whatever events happened,  will more than likely be forgotten.

Okay, here is my first memory that just came to mind:

We (my brother's and I) lived with my Grandma and Grandpa while my dad was away in the Merchant Marines serving our country. My Grandparents owned a grocery store with a house attached in the back  and that is where we lived. I remember one day being outside the front of the store playing with my brother who is 2 years older than me, I may have been 4 years or so, not sure. He was giving me a pony ride on his back. I was holding on to his t-shirt and he was acting like a horse, neighing and kicking and just being silly, if you can picture it. All of a sudden he stopped, turned his head to the right,  and his eyes just lit up as he screamed, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!" When he was screaming I had time to turn to the right and see this man walking and partly running with a duffel bag towards us. He was across the street from us. He seemed to pick up speed, because suddenly my brother jumped up and I fell to the ground and the last thing I remember is seeing my Dad in a blue uniform run as fast as he could to get to us.I think I saw the duffel bag fall to the ground.  I don't remember what happened after that. I do know I woke up on the bed in a daze and remember moaning.
 Memory One.

Now that I think about it, perhaps that's why I'm so goofy all the time. Tee Hee. I've got to get back to the kitchen and clean it up before American Idol starts. Just wanted to say hello and hope you have a great day tomorrow. I'm staying home tomorrow and using my treadmill. I don't feel like going out to exercise.
HOME it is.

Come One, Come All, VALENTINE'S DAY GIVEAWAY!

(Free image)

Going through my studio the other day, I ran across this "UNUSED" voice recording photo album. I think it's been sitting unused for a few years. I have included two AAA batteries, so it's all set to go.

It is a RADIO SHACK product. I've never used it and don't anticipate doing so, so that will be my giveaway for Valentine's Day ,  and a couple of bars of JASMINE soap.

Valentine's Day is our anniversary of the many years that we have  spent together, so we will be at Red Lobster for an early lunch or early dinner, before the crowd comes in, watch a movie, drink some champagne and just kick back like the old timers that we are, hehehe.:DDD

So Here is the Photo Album and I hope YOU get some use out of it. You add pictures to the pockets and then you can record something about the picture. When someone looks at the picture, they can play the voice and see what the picture is about.








Then these BARS OF ESSENCE. I love these soaps, they smell so GOOD. I'd love for you to have them.




THERE ARE NO RULES OR REGULATIONS. JUST COME TO MY BLOG, LEAVE A COMMENT SAYING YOU'D LIKE TO BE ENTERED IN THE GIVEAWAY, IF YOU WANT TO MENTION THE GIVEAWAY TO SOMEONE, BE MY GUEST.I''LL PROBABLY PUT THIS POST ON MY SIDEBAR WITH A LINK BECAUSE I WON'T DRAW A NAME UNTIL THE 14TH OF FEBRUARY,  OTHER THAN THAT, MI CASA TU CASA.

Okay I'm going now, I haven't even cleaned house. I've been lazy.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

You ever wonder what people do when they come to your blog? Of course we know that the regulars usually read what you've said and leave a comment and they go on their way to other blog sites to visit and learn and just blog hop.

What about the times when someone comes to your blog and you have a sort of tracking system that tells you how long they were on your blog,  and then you start wondering and thinking to yourself, "wow, this person is really interested in things I have to say." You are thankful for that until you check your tracking system and find out that there are paragraphs being copied, art work, sayings, and the like and then you know why that person has spent so much time on your blog.

I for one didn't know you could do that and I didn't really want to do that. Someone told me that I could find out if someone was copying my art work or other things on the blog and so what the heck, I downloaded the program and yep, some of my "stuff" is being copied.  What for I wonder,  and why? All they have to do is ask me and I'll say, sure go ahead.

Oh well, I'm not going to worry about it, after all...every one's post is like a public bulletin board or just a public domain where anyone can have access to it. It's like going to the county courthouse and sitting down to look at the home records to find out about certain homes. How big the lot is, what the taxes are, what it sold for, etc. The  public has access to it and it's the same here. Back at the beginning of 2008, I deleted my first blog because some of my art was being copied. Someone had seen it on someones blog and told me about it, so I deleted all my artwork from it,  and pictures. I finally decided to just delete the blog and start over.

I started a new blog with hopes of not uploading anything and little by little I've done it again and really it's too late to change it now. What do you think about this? Does it bother you that someone would "steal" your artwork? Even your words? Oh well,  can't win them all. Just voicing, and why not it is my public blog,  and yes it's public domain. Okay, I said my words for today and I'll probably be back with pictures and stuff later on. Tee hee .

My sign is up in the studio, the light for the outside is being installed as I type, (hubby is home today) and we've gotten our taxes out of the way. Chocolatte went to the groomer's today, we enjoyed a nice lunch and now I'm outside to the studio to learn how to draw a Mandala. I have some instructions and wanted to try it out. Have a great evening.

Aye Chihuahua!

We watched this movie tonight and it was lots of fun. Our Chihuahua/Poodle mix Chocolatte watched it with us and every once in a while would bark at the screen. She was a warrior too. Tee Hee.

Chocolatte was younger in this picture. She will be 4 years old this November. I can't believe we have had her almost 4 years. I went and picked her up not too long after Chorizo our Chow/SharPei left us. She was a few mere weeks and I had to have a pair of eyes looking at me like Chorizo used to do. The sadness of losing Chorizo was too heart wrenching and still is. It turns out that Chocolatte does the same, follows me everywhere with her eyes. She's a beauty.



If you haven't seen this movie, watch it...you'll have fun, especially if you love our furry members.

Have a great Super Bowl day tomorrow. We aren't really into football much, but we'll probably watch a little of it. I know I want some studio time. Then on Monday, time to go do our taxes, hubby is off on Monday.

I'm looking at life with a smile on my face and a thank you for everything. Life is good!

Have a great day tomorrow.

My Life as a Housewife Blogger, Section 2-2010

Well I received my Section 2 of "My Life as a Housewife Blogger." I am so very pleased with it. Totally awesome. I couldn't upload pix to my blog because I've exceeded my limit, so I put them on Flicker and just copied them. Tee Hee. It's unbelievable the quality of these books. The pages may not look very clear because I'm a bad picture taker, but I promise you it is quality. The pictures in the book are awesome. Can you believe that I have all of 2010 in these two books. My life, My husband and my life, Bloggie friends,  what I did, what happened, what I cooked and the pictures, the good, the bad, and the ugly, dia de los muertos, all of it and it was money well spent. I've been sitting and reading the things I posted about and the pictures that went with it and am just dumbfounded by the year and it's contents. I'm actually in AWE of these books. So here's what they look like, a couple of pages and now it's time to do 2009 Section One and Two and then 2008 Section One. I can't believe what I've said and done in 2010 are all here in these books. 









So I'm off now to dreamland  with a HAPPY HEART. Have a great day tomorrow.

Thursday Music

Just a little music. A very nice song by Roberta Flack and since it's close to February 14, this is a great love song for that day. I'll be back later. Hope you listen to it. Have a great evening.Take care.

                                                            

Old Boxes Can Be Recycled Too

A box my book came in looked to good to throw away. Just experimenting  with it,  and trying new things.



Painted the backside and the sides, not sure if it will stay this color.

Started adding to the box. A copy of the  painting I just did a few weeks ago was added. The copy has been glued to red felt and have sewn trim all around the painting. Flowers are added, some leaves.

Beads and a cross were added.

This is as far as I've gotten. I don't feel it's completed yet, it will be set aside where it can be seen and may get some inspiration to finish it. 

In the meantime I'm headed to the kitchen to make dinner for husband. I'm making him chili dogs, not for me, but for him. It hasn't been decided what my dinner will be. Today I exercised early this morning, went to the store to pick up a few things, came home and made appt. with our accountant for next Monday. Hunger set in and I had some beans with cheese and a tortilla. That's all, but enough. I forgot to take my vitamins so I'm going to do that now. Okay, have a great evening.

TALK TO YOU LATER.