Thank You

While you relax and celebrate, remember the reason for the day.

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Thank you, to all who serve.

Howl Is Your Tuesday. (Terrible Pun Indeed)

Cute puppy howling. : )

Have a great Tuesday!

Meditate Monday

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Awesome:
♦Need a time waster? Bandnames...click random. Your welcome. (Hat tip to Allison!)My favorite one.

DIY:
♦Make faux vintage labels.
♦Cool book page covered table.
♦Name plate necklace...made from a old credit card. (Why didn't I think of that!)
♦Terrarium necklace.
♦Boot keeps/boot inserts. (I have been doing this for years!)
♦Make your own tattoo tights. (I have to try this!!!)
♦Dream pillows. (Help with relaxation.)
♦How to arrange flowers in different vase shapes.

Fun:
♦Kate Sokoler has a funny take on peacocks.
♦Corgi pin-ups.

Feminism:
♦Vogue makes changes…but are they enough?
♦Taking "doll face" to the extreme!
♦A film shows the stark contrasts that Indian woman face:

"Prachi says she doesn’t mind the beatings. After all, she says, they are only administered when she has done something wrong. She says her father has the right to punish her, as he gave her life—and allowed her to live it. The film makes the point that in many Indian families, baby girls are devalued to the point that parents will ship them off to orphanages, or even kill them, simply because they are not boys."

Heroes:
♦Man prevented 160 suicides! More about Don Ritchie.
♦Weird is good.

Noms:
♦Citrus bars. (The lime ones sound so good!)
♦Dr. Pepper brownies. (Please ignore that they are diet.)
♦Brown Butter Rhubarb Crumble.
♦Peanutbutter puppy treats.

WTF:
♦Terrible wedding cakes.

Drag Your Self To A Cup Of Coffee…

This dog made my day. I couldn't stop laughing!

Marquee Monday

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DIY:

♦Make your own marquee letters.

♦Umbrella...made into a bag? Weird...or cool...?

♦Fun bulletin board.

♦Make hydrangeas.

♦Quilted greeting cards.

♦Decorate shoes...with lace.

Fun:

♦OMG! Allison has the best post about about subversive cross-stitch!

♦A collection of sleeping corgis! Holy-cuteness Batman!

♦Happy belated birthday to Lola the cat!

♦Fun time waster, the Scribbler.

♦Movie Inspired cakes. (The Edward Scissor Hands one is amazing!)

♦I hope I look like this at 66! (Albeit, with some photo-shop help)

Noms:

♦Cinnamon toast french toast. (Baked cinnamon french toast)Scroll down to the bottom for the recipe.

♦Peanut butter cup-layer cake.

♦Spinach meatballs.

♦Raspberry Lime Cheesecake.

WTF:

♦Some seriously gross dinner plates. (Don’t look at if your eating. You have been warned!)

♦The First Lady endorsing dangerous weight loss...very sad!

♦I have dubbed this: "Burning Man-Goes High Fashion" Very weird.

Flying In The Water

Have I ever mentioned that I love rays?

I think they are incredibly elegant, and move so beautifully.

They appear to glide or fly thought the water.

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Rasputin and I recently went to the aquarium in Bloomington. He loves the Amazon exhibit, and I love to see the rays.

We even took the behind the scenes tour. We were able to see Jack the huge stingray, and a enormous sea turtle!

 

Enjoy some videos I found:

Stingrays

Manta Rays

What is your favorite sea creature?

Mash-up Monday

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Art/Culture:

♦Broccoli House! (We all know that I had some weird ideas as a kid, but I also thought that broccoli plants were baby trees.)

♦Crazy mash-up of old Better Homes and Gardens magazine photos, and men's magazine photos.(SpaceMan Steve, I thought of you when I found these!)

♦AMAZING art deco cakes!!!

♦Bathroom portraits...

♦Details of the intricate process of making up Persian bride.

DIY:

♦Cool hair clip holder.

♦Mod Podge your bike!

♦Add some Zen...with mandala- rocks.

Feminism:

♦Breif history of hair removal, and a discussion on its impact. 

Fun:
♦“Disapproving Social Network Guy" Comic

♦Have dessert for breakfast!

♦Pintester tries out things from Pinterest...and makes a mess of things...in a fun way. Her test of strawberries and cream mug cake had me in tears laughing! (Caution, she swears a bit.)

♦More Pintester: the "cat anus bag"

♦I ♥ Calaveras. This site sells really cool ones for cake toppers.

Mental Health/Recovery:

♦Self-image and breast size. One girls experience.

♦How to enjoy eating again.

♦A young woman's account of being stalked.(Get help, don’t keep it to yourself!)

♦Gala Darling wrote an extensive piece about cutting and self harm. She talks about her battle with cutting, and proves that you can make it out of the darkness. (Please read with caution, this may trigger some folks.)

Gala gave a TED talk!!!!!

♥♥♥♥She is amazing!♥♥♥♥

Noms:

♦Super drool! Sweet Lime Tartlets. I HAVE to make these!!!

♦Chocolate cookies...nom nom nom!!!

WTF:

♦Mt. Dew Doritos cupcakes. Ewww!

♦Creepy cakes.

Don't Leave, Don't Give Up! You Are Important!

This video From The Bloggess has been making rounds on the internet.
You may have seen it already, but it is important and worth sharing!

Jenny AKA: The Bloggess talks very candidly about depression, anxiety, and self harm.

Mental Illness can be scary, overwhelming, challenging, and frustrating.

There are solutions! There are people who can help! I can’t emphasize this enough: you are not alone!

Suicide prevention hotline: Lifeline

Mental Health & Psychology resources. (Psych Central is great! They have fantastic blogs too.)

Info/Help for:
♦Anxiety
♦Bi-Polar
♦Depression
♦Eating Disorders
♦OCD
♦PTSD
♦Self Harm
♦Sexual assaultThis is by all means not a comprehensive list. If you need help don’t give up, tell someone!

♥Love, and strength to you!

My Mind Is Like a Steel-Trap...Rusty And Full Of Holes.

The mind is a funny thing. You can have all of these memories buried and not be aware of them, until something triggers one.

I was at a local garden center with Rasputin, shopping for perennials. (My Mom had generously given us a gift certificate. Thanks mom!!!)

As I walked by some bleeding hearts, and fuchsias…I had an overwhelming sense of sadness and longing come over me. I was remembering the gardens of my family.

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Gramma T had a artfully arranged rock garden behind her garage. There were a few bleeding hearts tucked in-between the rocks.

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My aunt Gia was a huge part of my early life. She taught me grammar, spelling*, flower arranging**, elements of art/creativity, and that animals have rights and deserve respect. (She was pretty damn cool.)

Every year she bought the largest fuchsia basket she could find. She would hang it from her deck, right above the front door. She told me that she loved the shapes of the flowers, and that they reminded her of ballerinas.

Fuchsia-ballerinas…yeah, I can see that. Source

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Raspi, and I decided on starting a succulents garden behind our kitchen. (I really wanted to pick up a yucca but the planting area is only 3 inches deep then it hits cement. Yucca was a no-go.)

We also picked up 2 ferns, and a bleeding heart for the shady side of our house.

　
Some family favorites:
♥Alliums (Giant Globe)
♥Bleeding Heart
♥Chives
♥Columbine (Gramma T had the red and yellow ones.)
♥Fuchsia (Gia preferred the pink and white ones.)
♥Hollyhock
♥Kalanchoe (Not a perennial in colder climates.) ♥Lily of the Valley (My favorite flower)
♥Mint
♥Sweet Peas
♥Pansy
♥Tiger lilies

*Don't blame Gia for my poor spelling, she tried very hard...but I am still dependent on spell-check!

**Arranging, and arraigning look way too similar! Imagine sending flowers to court! Ha ha ha!!!

@#$@#%#$%!!! I keep trying to fix the list of flowers, but it keeps moving the lily of the valley. Grrrr! Dang you Blogger and your weird formatting errors!!!!!!

Thanks to Better Homes and Garden, and Wikipedia for flower information.

Henri…Has Ennui

Henri...the depressed cat.

Part two

Part two is fantastic.