Halloween Goblin King...

Cutest Goblin King ever... (on right)

My grand daughter (6) loved the movie "Labyrinth" and decided to dress as the Goblin King for Halloween this year. Her mom did a great job putting this outfit together. I just love it!

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 Now on another note, I have been back into my clay pottery with a vengeance.  Don't know how long this will last, but it's kept me pretty busy... and my mind off of other things. 

finished sea turtle vase

I'm not too happy with this vase as the blue background and green turtle almost blend into each other.

lizard on bowl and psychedelic chickens

These are in the kiln for first firing. We'll see how they come out.

Terra Sig balls for Raku firing

An experiment in the making...

                                                 

world of snakes globe

Two views of my world of snakes globe - still  greenware just drying... (thought of making the world green and the snakes multi-colored, but think I may make the world blue and the snakes green for simplicity).

And lastly, my big silly chicken just finished (which is still wet clay):

silly chicken...

And for those of you not interested in pottery, I apologize... but this was all I had to offer in this post.

Wait! Julie posed for a pic yesterday. I'm a little worried about her. She has had an small open sore under her neck that has been around forever and won't heal (possibly because she scratches at it constantly). Now her ear is red... not swollen, just very pink... no visible abscess and nothing seems to bother her, she eats well, eyes clear, etc. But we're watching closely. She (knock on wood) has never been sick in her 15 years.

Julie

Closing this now. Hope you are having a good weekend. Thanks as always for reading (and commenting if you've a mind to).  I personally find the comments sometimes as interesting as the posts.

Hugs,
Rian

7- 9 tornadoes!

Sunday night here was one to be remembered. The sirens went off around 9 PM, then between the iPhone alerts, TV newscasters and storm trackers - apparently a tornado had touched down in North Dallas and was cutting a path through Richardson (where we live). 

DH stayed close to the TV - but grandson and I sat in the middle of the hall with the cats as we were told to take cover in a closet or middle bathroom.  Our youngest son and his family live in Rowlett - about 20 minutes away and his power went out even before the warnings began.So we were keeping in touch with him by cell phone. Rowlett was  the area hit by the day after Christmas tornado about 4 years ago that decimated so many Rowlett neighborhoods.  

The alerts and alarms continued. Finally we thought the worse was over around 11PM and went to bed - only to be awakened by our house security alarm blaring "tornado warning!!" again. We gave up and decided it best to stay up until all was clear - which was about 2 AM. 

The next morning the destruction was visible. We were so-oo lucky as the damage from the E3 tornado ran from Walnut Hill (our old stomping grounds) through Richardson (where we now live) but stayed about 2 intersections from our house. 

Most neighborhoods in the area lost power. Several lost homes, roofs, fences. Both Dallas and Richardson schools were closed Monday either from damage or loss of power. Some won't reopen. 

Getting to class on Tuesday when power was restored to the college was a mess. Streets lights were not working, police cars and fire trucks blocked roadways, power lines down, etc. What usually takes 15-20 minutes to get to the campus took us nearly an hour.They should have said "power restored, school open" but added "good luck getting there!"

Our doctor's office is intact... but no power. Our favorite drugstore/pharmacy where DH just got his Shingles vaccine is part of the shopping center that was destroyed at Preston and Royal. 

Yes, this one was a bit too close for comfort. They said that there were 7-9 tornadoes in all (most couldn't be seen in the cover of darkness) and that the E3 one took debris up 20,000 feet! (We did find a portion of someone's roof and insulation on our front lawn.)

This is just a report on the last few days here in our little corner of Texas. We were very very lucky, but many weren't.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. But... no lives were lost - which is a miracle in itself!


Hugs,
Rian

weekend is here...

fresh bread

This is what DH and I eat every morning for breakfast... a half slice of fresh made bread (No, I didn't make it). But a slice of warmed bread with butter and a cup of coffee make up our daily breakfast. 

Oh, on occasion (but very seldom) we will have eggs and bacon or biscuits or pancakes... but more than likely we have this type of breakfast for supper (especially at the end of the week when we've just about run out of groceries).

One of our favorite suppers is a dutch baby with lots of butter, lemon, powdered sugar... and a few slices of bacon!

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Not a lot going on here at the moment... well, birthdays abound! From August though December, we have have about 10 birthdays in our family. Two this year are fairly big ones... oldest grand daughter turned 18 and oldest grandson will be 21 in a few weeks. Don't know how these kids got so old so fast. Time sure flies. 
                                                                              
                                                         

Oldest grandson at younger age

oldest grandson now

oldest grand daughter at younger age

oldest grand daughter now

OK... closing this with a few pics of the progression of

Cheeky Chickens 2nd generation!

                                                                                   

These are slightly bigger than the first generation... and have added 3 dimensional wings instead of carved in... and may possibly be colorful shades of pink, blue, and purple (this is still a maybe?).
 

The round ball in the back is clay over a balloon which will be covered with tiny snakes and fired in the ground... (an experiment in the making).

And lastly I want to thank those of you who read my book (Time After Time by D'Arcy Regan Hart) and put a review on Amazon.  I may never have a ton of readers, but it makes me very happy that the few who have read it seemed to enjoy it. Thanks again.

Have a wonderful weekend and as always thanks so much for reading and sharing this time in my life with me.


Hugs,
Rian

a few unrelated things...

Tux sitting in sunlit window

Today's post is totally random... just a few pics taken recently that are unrelated. This one at the top I shot of Tux finding a little place in the sun while I worked on the computer.

box turtle on lawn

This one DH took of one of the larger box turtles walking across the lawn this morning.

Night Blooming Cereus

And this pic DH's brother sent us from Houston. His Night Bloomer actually had 17 -20 of these beauties blooming at the same time. This is my very favorite plant! We used to have one that bloomed (never that many at once)... and the aroma is heavenly.  

Even the cats would gather round it when it opened and released it's distinctive fragrance . It's especially wonderful because the plant itself is not that attractive. Most bloom only once a year, at night... and don't last very long. If you've never actually witnessed one of these bloom, it's amazing... (there are some time-lapse photography on google if interested). 

That's about it. Weather is gorgeous (sunny and 67 F), bought 2 new kitty beds (on sale for $6.99) for outside cats (since the weather will be getting cold soon), and made 2 rum cakes and a batch of whiskey balls to send to my son for his birthday next week!  So, yes, I'm feeling better...

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

(Oh, a funny story - although Ghost may not think it was funny.  Yesterday I sat on Ghost (poor baby). She is a dark gray and our sofa is a dark blue. Well, she's taken to sitting in my spot lately - and I walked into the den with my coffee without paying attention and sat! At first I thought I'd sat on one of the sofa pillows until she wiggled free. Poor baby, I apologized profusely and she is such a good cat that she doesn't hold a grudge (Tux does). Anyway, I gave up my spot to her... and she didn't hesitate to re-take it.)

This is a picture of Ghost when she was young...
 and sitting in the window next to our Night Blooming Cereus...

Hugs,

Rian

To give in or not to give in...

          Some of you suggested  that my melancholy could be due to SAD (seasonal affective disorder).  I thought I'd heard of this but googled it just the same. It says that SAD is a mood disorder that is characterized by depression and occurs at the same time each year... usually Fall or  Winter.

Apparently it's common... more so in areas where there is no sun.

But Texas has lots of sun!

However, I read that it could also be caused by the body producing less serotonin (for whatever reason)  or  possibly seasonal changes causing a drop in the production of melatonin.

Who knows the reason? - but the symptoms seem pretty obvious: oversleeping, no interest in activities, tiredness, easily agitated, social withdrawal... 

Yes to all of the above!

Maybe the back pain and shingles added to the change of seasons upped my anxiety level and brought this on???

All I know is that  I don't like it! It's not me!!

So what do I do?

Give in to it - stay home and lay low for awhile? Or get more active, start some new projects (maybe a new quilt for someone? more cheeky chickens?)

My instinct says not to give in to it... although I want to. Almost called in and dropped my pottery classes. May still do that.

Thursday: Decided to make myself go to class... and also to go with the girls to lunch (which I hardly ever do - since I don't eat lunch just drink my thermos of hot tea). But I did all this and found that I DID feel a bit better for it.

However, my agitation was just below the surface as when I couldn't get the top off of something at the studio, I had the urge to throw it across the room... (didn't though).

All in all, pushing through it turned out to be a good call.

Put my glazed turtle vase into the kiln. Also working on some little sea turtles to add to bowls, etc. 

So... life goes on.  Thanks to all of you who commented. I hadn't thought of SAD - and whether it is or isn't, it did get me to do something about how I felt.

Hugs,
Rian

a few cat pics...

It's Autumn... actually in the 60's here this morning. Can't believe it!  Thought I'd post this perfect Autumn picture of a cat in an Autumn window.... (not one of ours).

Now here are 2 of our lazy 3 staying warm by the Aga...

Don't have much to say today... which is a shame as it's a beautiful Fall day, but I'm feeling a bit melancholy and don't know why. 

This next picture was taken from Pinterest and I really do like it!

and lastly 

our 3 curled up together on the sofa

Thanks for dropping by. 

I really hope you have a good rest of the week!

Hugs,

Rian

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

OK... October is here. It is still hot in Texas. My back is better. However, now I have Shingles! Sorry about this beginning, but I had to get that off my chest. 

Thankful that it's a mild case (just 2 spots on my left upper arm and a low grade fever) - probably due to the fact that I did get the original Shingles vaccine 5 years ago. The rashes don't itch, but they do hurt. However, it's not the rash itself that hurts, it's deep inside my arm?? 

Anyhow, I'm on these huge anti-viral horse-pills 3X a day... and anyone who knows me knows I don't like/take pills (if I can get away without them). Not only do I tend to get reactions to medications, but I also have trouble swallowing anything bigger than a Tylenol caplet. My family physician knows this. I asked him if I could possibly get by without taking the anti-viral, and he told me that if I didn't, the Shingles would probably go chronic and I really really didn't want that. Well, that scared me, so I promised to take them. 

The Pharmacist was a very sweet woman who commiserated with me on their size and showed me how to break them in half. It is a 3X a day ordeal! I use buttermilk to help them go down... and usually it takes a few tries. But I haven't choked to death yet. DH says 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger..."  Maybe. I tell myself it's one of the prices we pay to get to this age. At least I've had no bad reaction. They do make me a little sleepy.

OK... enough of that.

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I've come across a few things on Pinterest lately that I may want to share.  Some move me. Some are inspiring. Some just make me laugh. And I really need to laugh these days... 

This one made me laugh...

and this next one also...

Well, that's it. Happy TGIF! Oh, have any of you ever seen this?

Peach Coke?

My grandson brought these home for me this week. He knows I am a Coke Person in the Coke vs Pepsi world. I had never seen Peach Coke before (I like Classic), but these were pretty good.

Hugs,
Rian   😏