Category: Humor

Pour out

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Art, Cooking, Faith, Humor, Praise, Special Event, Thanks

Art Museum Adventure

This month we finally made it to the Cincinnati Art Museum. Bob wanted to see the exhibit “Farm to Table.” Such a catchy contemporary title, don’t you think? It featured food in works of art and as the museum says, “The exhibition showcases over sixty paintings and sculptures, including the work of Claude Monet, Eva Gonzalès, Victor Gilbert, Paul Gauguin, Jules Dalou, and Vincent van Gogh, artists who examined the nation’s unique relationship with food. The bounty of France’s agriculture and the skill of its chefs had long helped to define its strength and position on the international stage. ” For more details click on the link below.

https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/farm-to-table/

The painting above was huge. The features on the faces of the sheep enchanted both Bob and me.

Here is the description of another painting.

We studied the painting and discovered many unusual details such as the man with his hand on the bottom of a woman. What caught my attention the most was the woman along the back wall. Is she crocheting or knitting?

I find the detail almost unimaginable. How did they paint these?

We finally decided she is likely knitting and holding her needles in continental fashion. Obviously, she was relaxed and enjoying her work in the midst of the hubbub!

I give thanks to God for those talented enough to paint these amazing descriptions of daily life. To me, some of them actually looked as accurate as photographs.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Humor, Nature, Rest

How Do You Sleep?

Have you ever said,”I am so tired I could sleep standing up?” Sperm whales actually DO sleep vertically. I’ve seen it before on TV, but I am never bored by the scene.

Here is a link

Why Do Sperm Whales Sleep Vertically?

The same website says, “In a nutshell, it’s so that they can float near the surface and stay alert to potential predators. Sleeping vertically means they can breathe when needed and quite literally keep one eye open whilst they sleep!“

The Americas narrated by Tom Hanks has been entertaining and fascinating us. If you have not seen it yet, this is a show certainly worth your time!

Praying your sleep is restful and hopefully horizontal!

I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
    for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. Psalm 4:8 NRSVUE

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Family, Humor, Memories, Praise, Prayer, Thanks, Worship

Births

The birth I told you about recently reminded me of my daughter’s birth. Fifty years ago today she came into the world. It is hard to grasp that number. I was in labor for 32 hours. Finally the doctor decided to do an emergency C-section. When I awoke they held her up for me to see. She was sticking out her tongue! (Of course, they had just popped a pacifier out of her mouth.)

She is a delight now, just as she was as a newborn!

Celebrating her daughter’s birthday this month, too!

When this woman turns on the joy there is no mistaking how she is feeling! She loves dogs.

For Mother’s Day her daughter took her to Puppy Yoga!

She is her Dad’s clone. They are so much alike I often wonder if I had anything to do with her birth! Emily is a joy and a blessing to us.

Happy Birthday, my dear!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3 ESV

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Art, Collection of Quotes, Faith, Humor, Music, Nature, Traveling

Humor

Two quotes that captured my imagination.

Things are far too serious for us to lose our sense of humor! by Terry Patten

That one is almost to difficult to type after the bombing of Iran. I am having great difficulty understanding that event.

“Let the laughter come, even if it has not been heard for a very long time, especially if times are hard and the future uncertain. Laughter is as important in adversity as wisdom and courage.” Steven Charleston

So I had this image two nights in a row.

A pianist works in the kitchen cutting up meat. Careful of those fingers, I think. Then I wonder is there a funereal fugue for pork tenderloin? Play 2 minutes and you will get the idea!

So we were driving along in New Mexico and this caught our eye at the side of the road. I found the slideshow online. Click on the link that says Home. Then choose slideshow on menu across the top. That is a pink rose I would to have in my garden!!

Home

A friend of mine has been expecting her baby girl. The due date came. The due date passed. She tried everything she could think of to get that child born safely into this world. Had something called a membrane sweep. I did not want the details on how that is done. No progress. I teased her that perhaps she would have liberty by the 4th of July? I asked if she had tried walking in the pool. Her response, “I’ve tried it all LOL!!”

Last Sunday night they went to the hospital. As they entered the building, her water broke. The baby arrived 18 minutes later! All is well. At least they made it to the hospital!! Baby is lovely and weighs 8 pounds, 1.8 ounces. All this from a tiny woman. There was not even time for her to be medicated for the delivery! Unplanned natural delivery 🙂

This little girl is likely to be a corker! Entered the world on her own timetable and will certainly have mom, dad and big brother answering to her!

I looked out the office window yesterday and was delighted to see the first nasturtium blooming!

Speaking of humor. My daughter and grandgirls took me to a shop in Batavia for Mother’s Day. I got a “string of pearls” plant. Previously I had killed mine by over watering it. While there I saw this plastic planter. I thought, “no, I am not going ask for that.” Well, then I could not forget it. Last week I went back and bought one. Got a plant to try in it and voila!

Just makes me giggle!

Along with the rest of America we are sweltering here with high heat and tropical humidity. I am uncertain if these pansies will survive this weather. They looked nice, though leggy, this morning.

Snapdragons are blooming happily! Geranium is one I brought in the house over the winter. It should bloom again soon.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Faith, Family, Humor, Memories, Nature

A Couple Family Updates

I finally got Lucky in for a bath, nail trim, and brushing, brushing, brushing. She would not let the groomer use the hairdryer on her so she came home with her ears dripping wet. There was only one bather in that day so she had to wait hours for her turn. She was none too happy when I picked her up! She looks svelte and cuddly. She certainly smells better. She followed me around all evening as if she did not want me out of her sight? She usually sleeps next to the bed on her pillow with her fleece blanket. When I got up in the night to use the toilet, she had arranged her sleeping space for the first time ever! She had dragged the pillow over the walkway at the end of the bed and her blanket was on top of it. What?!!? Seemed to be keeping track of me even in the night! Here she is in the morning sun waiting for me to give her a breakfast bowl to lick.

She is wearing her groomer bandana

We recently met Rowan for a crochet lesson. Yes, he wants to learn and is practicing and making coasters, potholders and now working on a hat. Then we went to lunch at Ramundo’s. Trying to get these two to look at the camera and smile at the same time is almost impossible!

Rowan is letting his hair grow out again

I have finally gotten all the seeds in the ground for nasturtiums and bachelor’s buttons. I am trying to tame the perennial ferns back to stay out of the way of the flowers. That is likely an endless job! We have a bachelor’s button volunteer that sprouted from last year. It has already sent out one bloom and has two other buds on the plant.

We walked past a garden in Norwood where there were a thousand bachelor’s buttons plants in blue, white and even a deep burgundy! There were also Sweet Peas growing amongst them. It was a riot of joy!! Now I wish I had taken out my camera for that garden! Sweet peas tickle me after a woman told me that when her husband first courted her he brought her a nosegay of sweet peas. A sweet couple with a sweet history. I miss you Maria and Dwight!

Once I tried to capture the flowers in a photo and found myself entering into the stillness of soul that moves me towards wholeness. I likely have posted this previously, but sometimes a poem bears repeating multiple times! Please read it prayerfully and let yourself come to a point of stillness as you do.

Bachelor’s Buttons©Molly Lin Dutina2023

Going inward with the deep blue of the bachelor's buttons, 
I sink down.
I take the encompassing blue with me.
Down.

I drop my shoulders
Down 
I breathe the blue petals.

Knowing the blue from the petals will fade.
Down.
For now they wrap me in stillness.
Down.

Wash me in the blue brightness I pray.
Down.
Not St. Stewart's bluing agent.
Down.

But the true blue of fresh flower.
Down.
Peculiar petals, 
Down.

Not like tea rose.
Down.
To where I am nestled inside the flower.
Down.

Beyond the pollen gathering bees.
Down.
Sitting still in the Blues
I am restored.
Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Art, Challenge, Faith, Family, Humor, Marriage and Memories, Nature, Thanks

The Camera

Many who know the hobby of my husband know he has a wonderful eye for photography. When he retired from the laboratory his fellow employees wanted to know how best to gift him. I suggested they take up a collection towards a new camera. More than once he has considered dropping photography as his hobby. The verse that follow tells what happened next. Loosely based on the ideas from If Your Give a Mouse a Cookie.

If you get a retiree a camera
He will want to buy the instruction manual
And then spend a month reading the manual
Playing with settings, and learning the camera
Just when you think he will never take a real photo
He will venture out to snap some shots

When it is time to go beyond the house
he’s gonna want a case
And if the book doesn't fit in the case 
He is gonna need a new case

If you get a retiree a camera
He is going to need time to edit
And through away the “junk” shots
And print only the perfect ones

If you get a retiree a camera
There are episodes of frustration
Away from home on a special occasion
When the settings somehow escape him
And he goes back to the book
Fuming that it seemed so simple
When he practiced in the living room

If you get a retiree a camera
You need to plan time to review
The videos and best shots
And praise his hard work 
learning the contraption
And the expert eye that is seeing
The things you had hoped all along 
he would capture

All of the photos below are by rmdutina

Yes! Always give this man as many cameras as he needs! What does your eye see most often? CAn you capture it in a photo?!?

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Humor, Nature, Special Event, Traveling

Falingos

Many years ago when we went with our family to the beach for the first time our oldest Grandgirl at a tender preschool age called flamingos, “Falingos.” On our recent trip to Florida we visited the Sunken Gardens and saw “Falingos!” Of course, I had to text and remind her of the name she chose for these weird, unusual birds.

Once I heard that they have their coral coloring from the shrimp that they eat. “For flamingos, carotenoids are consumed through their primary food sources—algae and small crustaceans such as brine shrimp. Once ingested, these pigments are broken down by enzymes in the flamingo’s liver and absorbed into fats that are later deposited into their feathers, skin, and even their beaks.” https://learnbirdwatching.com/why-are-flamingos-pink/

I would call the birds we saw a medium pink. Not the vibrant they showed on the website above.

Our first view of the flamingos

In “Alice in Wonderland,” the flamingos were used as mallets in a game of flamingo croquet. The Queen of Hearts ordered her subjects to use the live flamingos as mallets. This certainly slanted my opinion of the flamingos as we walked through the gardens.

Finally we came upon a closer view of them. At first they all seemed to have their heads under the water. Diving they sort of resembled frozen pink turkeys! Waiting and biding my time I finally I got a better photo of them.

We enjoyed the gardens. The many tropical flowers reminded us of our trip to the gardens in Hawaii. The pond where the birds were located attached to a running stream throughout the gardens. At one place, I noticed a flamingo feather floating the water. It was away from where the birds were. I SO wanted that feather, but it was too far in the water for me to reach over the plants and retrieve it.

As we moseyed along taking photos admiring the “angel trumpet flower” (Brugmansia) which we had seen in California I was delighted to find it in more colors than we previously had seen! Not just yellow, but pink and white, too!

And rounding a bend I saw it! The lovely flamingo feather that wanted to travel to Ohio with me!

It was soaking wet, but floating where I could easily reach it. Retrieve it I did! First I tried to put it inside my sunhat, but it poked through. So I simply wrapped it in our folder about the Gardens and took it home. I had to think a bit when we returned to Ohio about how the folder got all wet!

Yep, she is one of my very best souvenirs! Thanks, Lord, for helping me see and retrieve it!

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Humor, Illness and Health, medical treatment, Memories, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender

Can You Relate?

Many women in America suffer from body image disgust. I came across a photo from when my kids were little. We were at a beach and I was in a swimsuit. I can remember seeing myself in that swimsuit and thinking at the time how I needed to lose weight. Looking at it now, “NOT SO!” I had a great figure.

Are there things about yourself you do not like or accept? When the diagnosis of aneurysm came I started to think my body had failed me. Yet, someone mentioned to me that one neurologist believes that this flaw in a blood vessel may have been there since birth and gradually weakened and enlarged over time!

There is great power in accepting things as they are, not wishing our lives were different as much as adjusting our expectations to how things truly are. One powerful book teaches that concept. “Radical Acceptance” has helped me avoid unnecessary suffering by coming to terms with reality. Tara Brach teaches, similar to Brother Lawrence, that we should cut short the negative thoughts and go for the ideas that move us forward.

And I said to my body, softly, “I want to be your friend.” It took a long breath. And replied, “I have been waiting my whole life for this.” Nayyirah Waheed

Isn’t that quote a lovely word picture? Are we willing to befriend our body and do whatever is necessary for the best care we can give it? One man I know is reluctant to participate in physical therapy. When PT is prescribed there is something we need help working on to get us to the best place possible.

I could list a thousand ways these ideas apply. You likely know your own ways. So try to befriend your earthen vessel and inhabit it as best you can, giving the best care you can.

Recently we were given tickets to see the Wizard of Oz ballet. What a treat! I was reminded as the Scarecrow wanted a brain; the Tin Man pined for a heart and the Cowardly Lion was desperate for courage, how I likely have all the things I need for my journey on earth. The Wizard showed the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion that they had already shown heart , brains and courage on the journey with Dorothy.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3 NIV

Our God is more mighty than any pretend Wizard. He has promised and given us everything we need, as Peter wrote, for a godly life. Why should we belittle and denigrate what He has created? We ARE His workmanship. Thankfulness will get us further than shame and negative thinking. I pray you will go forward in this life thanking the Lord for how you are created.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 NIV

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV

Chonda Pierce used to say this verse shows that we are all crackpots!

Print
Posted on in Aging, Faith, Family, Humor, Illness and Health, Marriage and Memories, medical treatment, Music, Praise, Thanks

TV Humor and At Home Humor

Do you ever watch All Creatures Great and Small on PBS? This season there is a baby involved in the family. (There are several different babies playing the part if I am not mistaken.) This one child has a giggle and laugh that cracks me up! There is a toy with a jingle bell on it that seems to be his trigger. They are fortunate to have this child on the show!

All Creatures Great and Small S5 Baby on Board

They did not capture his giggle for this clip. Our loss! They did confirm though there are 5 babies!

Certainly you have heard of the song House of the Rising Sun? Our home has become House of the Moans and Groans. The medication side effects for me include increased muscle pain: think arms, legs, back, ankles, hands, upper arm, it just goes on and on. Bob had a rather severe hamstring injury several weeks ago. He did not detach the hamstring from the bone, but has been in lots of pain. The steroids they put him on brought a whole new level of suffering. As the sun begins to set we both grow weary from fighting off pain and stiffness. Then the oompah-pa-pa band begins.

Each beat of the rhythm brings one of us going “Ooh” or “ouch.” Grunt, moan, gasp. “How did we get to this point,” we ask each other? Seems we were just meeting and dating and falling in love. Then we shuffle off to the bathroom and come back to watch another evening recording.

Laughter truly is the best medicine! We just celebrated our 55th Valentine’s Day. This is the card I gave Bob.

Yep, I have been a grump. Trying not to take things out on him, but still grumpy.

The good news is we have booked a flight to visit our neighbors who are “snowbirds.” Since surgery is not imminent we decided to take off. A few days out of here will do us both good. This will be our first experience with Allegiant Airlines. Will let you know how it goes!

Down south they live in Clearwater, Florida The airport is abbreviated PIE. Hoping we can find some pie while we are there! Or at least a conch shell for our grandson.

Ompah-pa-pa. Oompah-pa-pa. Keep singing your way to laughter!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Just do it, Listen, Memories, Nature

Spring Walk

Hope this captures your imagination as you wring out your socks!

April 2017 © Molly Lin Dutina

We walked the old abandoned road, now a trail, with folded umbrellas, eager to see what was happening this early spring at our favorite walk. Perhaps to find some wildflowers beside the creek in the woods before it drops down to the man-made lake? Balmy weather had enticed us to shorts. The naturalists had ordered tree and shrub hedgerows knocked down. Age and weather had removed a large cedar. Its blue berries, previous botanical décor at the edge of the old road trail, now gone forever.

We turned the corner amazed at the huge pile of dead trees and shrubs awaiting bonfire or perhaps burial in the field? I wondered about lost nesting places for birds and hiding places of wild life.

I whistled with the red-winged black birds as they trilled their welcome to the area about the pond.

We turned another corner wondering aloud if we should turn back? Brooding black clouds covered the south western sky with what looked like a ponderous load of rain. The stream area with the possibility of wild flowers urged us on. We said to one another, “What’s a little rain?” as the first drops pelted us. We were not certain the full storm would even reach us. We walked on and the wind picked up. I wondered if umbrellas were a good idea as lightening flashed in the distance. And suddenly the heavens opened and the umbrellas, too!

Making it to the creek I realized the rapid heat of this spring season had sent an over-growth of foliage. There was one variety of white flower, possibly from some settlers bulb placed years ago? With the changing rain intensity we decided to turn back to the car. We walked up the gradual hill on the paved trail. By the time we reached the pond and field area we were drenched. Socks squished inside sodden shoes. The rain began to come in sheets driven by the wind. I rarely experience this anymore beyond a view from the window! As the sheets drenched us from behind and moved before us I saw the depressions in the old road fill with water and flow towards and then behind us. I deliberately arranged my rapid walking to avoid the gathered running water where possible. We started getting cold, sopping wet under our umbrellas. Regardless, it was quite glorious to be walking in the rain, walking amidst the power and the glory of God!

The rain lessened; the wind calmed. Red wings returned to their song. I looked one in the eye as I tried to imitate his song. He seemed to ponder the tune for a moment and then winged away.

We were grateful for the shelter of the car. On the ride home it was extremely difficult to remove my drenched socks. It took a full day for shoes and socks to dry out. I am impressed forever by wrapping waves of rain and rivulets gaining strength around my feet on their way downhill to the lake.

When was the last time you walked in the rain on purpose? Hope it was recently or will be soon!