Boho or no?

I am in love with the tunic. I am comfortable in the tunic. So why don't I have more tunics? Good question. I would really love to have more of them but I don't find them in Thrift stores so, boohoo, no more tunics.

Devil Dog(aka Cheyenne) chewed and wiggled her way out of her cone of shame. This morning, and a beautiful one it is, I came down and it was hanging cattycornered off. So I guess after cutting it off, I won't try to put it back on. She seems so happy. And now I can get good puppy hugs. Besides, keeping her still to put it back on would take a major dose of knock out drops. I know she will calm down someday...............

I'm trying to grow my hair out. I colored it med blonde again. Now it isn't so red. But the growing thing is awful. I have bad hair days most of the time and for me a bad hair day is just a bad day.

Off to Lowe's. We'll see what comes back with me.

He said he likes it

I totally fell in love with the colors and print of this top. I ordered some white pants but they aren't here yet and since the top is pretty warm, I had to go ahead and wear it while the weather is cool. I combined it with black pants and shoes that match. And I am wearing yet another pair of earrings from Avon. I feel as if the top makes me look huge but it's such a pretty one I don't care.

The Royal wedding is all over the news today. I am pleased to see such an elegant wedding dress. I really like it.

Friday- ah yes.

Yesterday and today

I live in the South. I love living in the South. I get humongous allergy headaches and I sweat a lot but it's great living in the South. Till now. I have to admit to being sad about what happened here last night. The death toll is up to 213 right now and it is likely to go higher. Strong storms. What an understatement. I feel like if I had wings I would have been blown away last night. And where I live wasn't even close to the hardest hit spots.

We had heavy heavy winds. The lightening was almost continuous for a good hour as was the thunder. If you enlarge the lower pic above you'll see the deck of my house covered with hail. Ours was only up to quarter size. One county reported 2 and 3/4 inch hail. Can anybody say dents in cars. The lightening show was better than any fireworks I've ever seen but it's hard to appreciate when you know people are being hurt or dying or losing their homes.

I would hope my readers keep praying for the people who have lost so much.

And have a better day today.

Dontcha just love it

Don't you love when someone brings you flowers when they don't have to? And they are wonderful sweet smelling iris. They are from his flower garden. A friend indeed.

Happy Easter

I don't have much of a life.

The big excitement of the day was going to get Cheyenne at the vet. No, she's not hurt. She was spayed on Thursday. And she has run into everything in the house since she came home. And she has scared the corgi to death with that satellite dish she's wearing. Cody doesn't like anything new.

I am a firm believer in spaying and neutering. There are several reasons for this. First I do think the world is already overpopulated. People who get a pet dog or cat and just let them run loose have contributed to the problem of pets starving to death, or attacking other pets and people. I am also a firm believer that if I take responsibility for an animal's life, I must do my best for that animal. It's not like they can do anything to make their existence better. Only we humans can do that.

I have watched Animal Cops, etc. I am amazed at the horrible treatment that they  receive. I often look at the people who go to court to get their animals back and wonder what were they thinking.  I find myself looking at horses where every bone shows and wonder how they could be 200 pounds underweight and no one noticed. There is no excuse.

Just when non animal lovers say, loudly, but what about humans being treated poorly. And I agree with them. No one has the right to beat, starve, kill, injure, or in other ways damage another person no matter what the age. I believe this with all my heart. And I have no respect for anyone who thinks they are better than or more important than anyone else.

But I need to get out more. I dreamed about a serial killer the other night. I have watched every Criminal Minds show and most of the true crime shows. I have doted on the CSI shows. I have been reading vampire books, true crime books, and crime novels. I heard  or read somewhere that what you put into your mind determines how you live your life. And it makes sense. I've been putting crime against humans and animals into my mind daily. It's no wonder I'm dreaming about serial killers.

I am going to the mall today. Not to shop. Since my surgery I need to get out more. And I need to watch people. Regular people who aren't commiting crimes. And kids with their families. I need to see pretty Spring colors. I need to be able to walk some and to find a place to sit when I need to. So to the mall. I don't mean to hide my head in the sand. But I must find a happy medium. So pre-Easter shoppers will provide some good vibes.

Happy Easter to all.

There are zippers on my pants

I opened the box of clothes that I put away at the end of last summer. I had purchased a top with tank at Walmart. It still had the tags on it. And I put it on and loved it. It has some iridescent threads running through. And it's obviously see thru. Hence the tank. I know it's not lace. But it has the feeling of being lacy. A really girly look. But then the tone down with the zippers on the pants.

I have also colored my hair a little darker and I am letting it grow out some. The really short hair is great for the ease. But I've never felt womanly in very short hair. The color I was going for looks great on the girls I have seen in blogs. I wanted total white. But I am not a girl. And I decided I look better with a little darker hair. So medium blonde is the new color. I prefer Preference because my hair feels better after I use it.

With hair color the almost right color, now I work on length and style. I usually have a major change in hair about every 6th or 7th visit to the stylist. I get bored easily. This blogging thing would ordinarily have ended after about 6 weeks. But the blogs are so much fun to read and I'm learning so much I don't want to quit. Back to hair. I am very sensitive about looking fat and old. I know it's hard to hide fat and old. And I have found that I am nowhere as innovative as I had thought. Not even close. So the blog is showing that hair color comes across as lighter than the mirror shows it and the style is downright matronly on me and I'm still fat. And old. Sometimes I despair of ever getting a good feeling about my looks again.

The best thing about Spring and Summer is those boxes of things that were put away at the end of the last warm season. I don't like hot weather. I don't own a decent pair of shorts. I don't intend to stay at home all the time like I did last year. Last year was the second hottest on record here. But there is always the mall. This year I have promised myself to get out more, move more, and look better doing it. So back to the boxes.

Unfortunately, up until I began to blog about fashion I had bought whatever would go on my body and cost the least. Walmart is great for somethings but I think being a bit more choosy would have made a great big difference. So I have come up with a plan for this year. I will not buy anything I haven't tried on. I will not buy anything that doesn't fit right and look good. And I will apply that to my current wardrobe. This week and next is a time to try on the things I have and decide what to do with them. For anyone in a 1X, 2X, or 3X, there will be a lot on ebay.

There will also be a large number of fairly expensive and not so expensive accessories to include bags and jewelry listed on ebay. It was great while it lasted but my need now is for money and not more stuff. I was looking at some closets on the blogs and I can't find anything in mine. And I have about 30 or 40 too many bags. And my jewelry, well that is another story. And my clothes. I have 5 pairs of brown pants. 5 pairs of brown pants that are in no way fitted properly. So because of the blogs I am getting started on turning pants into shorts, into capris that fit, and into slim pants. Thanks to the blog, I am learning so much I may even put zippers on another pair of pants.

Good day to you!

They changed something. So I'll try to get with the program. First I want to see if I can do something.

I feel almost like I'm coming back to life after the last couple of weeks. Losing Shadow is still a sharp pain. There aren't many people in my life on a regular basis. I am an only child with my sig other and 3 kids + spouses + grandkids who don't live here. My dog was truly like a real human person in my life. There is a big hole there now. Bloggers have helped a lot. Still, there's a hole. And like you can't replace a lost human loved one with another, so you can't replace a pet.




I am so grateful for the friendship of my sig other's mother. Since Brian and I are definitely not close in age, his mom and I are. She has become a good friend. She brought me flowers, yellow ones with little yellow roses and it should be clear that my color for brightening up stuff this year is yellow. Her choice was serendipity. I love them and her visit.



I received the jacket/sweater that I had on in the pics from ebay. It wasn't really a sweater but more of the slinky knit I wear a lot of. And the color really was wonderful. I'm so glad the necklace goes with it. I have several of the slab necklaces. They rang my chimes last year and they are an example of my overdoing things. Of course if one is good, more is better. I'm learning to control those nasty urges a little better.



Got to go let the dogs out. Happy day!!!!!
 
Now I'll try to explain something I don't understand. I wrote a blog entry. The message from blogspot was that I've been doing something wrong editing. I wasn't editing. So then I thought it disappeared. But only the pics disappeared. So I went to compose and there was the button for pics so I uploaded them again. Then I went to find if anything was saved on the log. I copied the blog I wrote and pasted it. Then the pics were already there. By the way, I have a huge vocabulary to use when the computer makes me mad. Be grateful you're not here.

Addressing Jewelry

I'd like to address the subject of jewelry. Age-wise, size-wise, color-wise, fashion-wise.

I've worked in two fine jewelry stores. I've made jewelry for many years and I have been a jewelry consumer as long as I can remember. There are so many rules????? about wearing jewelry that I am going to try to make sense of the jewelry as an accessory.

First, if it doesn't look good on you don't wear it. This is my number one rule regarding the wearing of any and all kinds of fashion and accessories.

Second, if it doesn't feel good, don't wear it. I have a ring that I love. But the way it's made, it pokes into my finger and eventually it hurts. So I haven't been wearing it. It is green turquoise and silver and I really like it. So I'm going to get some paraffin and put inside so it won't poke me. I'm hoping that helps. If I try wearing a piece of jewelry that bothers me I end up taking it off somewhere and misplacing it.

Third, if your jewelry is appropriate to your age, great. Most jewelry is ageless. This isn't true for fashion. And jewelry can make fashions look more or less fashionable. Take the trend toward vintage in fashion. Even the Anthropologie brand has offered fashion with a vintage feel but a modern twist. And thoroughly modern fashions can be worn with vintage jewels to great advantage. I am now talking about those of us who want variety but only to a point. I have several pairs of vintage earrings that go very well with my other clothes, none of which is vintage. But the problem arises when a contemporary eye is not used to assemble fashion. If the idea is to go completely vintage, go for it. If the idea is eclecticism, play with it. Then look into the mirror and see if it works. Usually a small print fashion won't look so good with very large earrings. And with large prints the small jewelry may get lost. Your mirror will tell you.

Fourth, I have a short neck, a large wrist, pudgy fingers, and a large circumference neck. In addition I have a large bust. Those realities create stoppers for me in some jewelry types. I am a large woman. I don't wear small pendants. They tend to disappear on me. I have a short and wide neck. Chokers are out, way out. Not only do they shorten me further, they are uncomfortable to me. Also because of my short neck, I don't wear large earrings and large necklaces together. There is no distance between the two and it really looks weird. They tend to blend. I love the look of lots of bracelets and big watches on the young women in the blogs. But they don't look as good on me. First, I can't get bangles on because of my big hands, and they seem to point out the pudge. And finally, I'd love to wear lots of rings. I have lots of rings. But I don't have rings for my largest fingers. So I have a limit.

Fifth, there are all colors of jewelry. Metal colors now include brown, black, rose, green, silver, gold, etc. I don't show silver off to its best advantage because of my skin tone. So I will either mix metals, or wear different make-up to compensate. I do have some silver toned earrings I love. And of course I have to work with the colors of the fashions and of the jewelry. For instance, I may put an orange necklace with a pink top on purpose and it might look terrific. But I think when mixing this way it works better if there is a tie in like a belt, print top, or some other accessory.

Sixth and last, there are a few tricks to taking care of your jewelry. One is the toothbrush cleaning. Another is using clear nail polish to stop metals from changing color or irritating your skin. One should never, I repeat never, soak pearls in jewelry cleaner. A soft cloth is needed here. Don't wear gold jewelry into chlorinated water often. The water may break down the joints. Keep silver pieces in silver cloth just like flatware. And do keep your jewelry in such a way that you are able to see the pieces and don't forget about them.

When you can't do anything else

I went out to a store today. I can walk some and needed a couple of things so I thought why not? Why not is that I am evidently very messed up physically. Either I am not eating enough or something. Getting lightheaded and falling down in a store isn't a great idea so I came home.

So now what can I do? Bored. Cabin fever. Need to pass some time. Ah, Style.com. Roberto Cavalli has always been my go to man for gorgeous fabrics. And he came through like a champ with that part of the new fashion look. But I have a problem with models who look like they have cooking oil on their hair. Since I was finally able to shower this morning and wash my hair, I was truly grateful to get rid of that look. I'd give anything if someone would tell me why a designer would send the dirty hair look down the runway with fashions that cost thousands of dollars. I can't help but wonder what the message is.

It wouldn't let me

This is the flower I got. For some reason when I tried to add it before I couldn't.

I deserve flowers

I decided that I deserve flowers after Shadow died and the more so since my surgery. So I had gone to the store and bought some flowers. Then I lucked into a place with the most beautiful flowers and just had to stop. It's a place that carries fruits, veggies, Christmas, Halloween, etc. And It is a genuine road side stand in the middle of one of Knoxville's busiest streets. I hadn't been there before and I'm so glad I stopped. There are dogwoods and other trees coming out all over Knoxville and I am happy to add to the show with a couple of Tuberous Begonias. I am totally illiterate when I deal with gardening so to be sure I am glad that there are little labels stuck inside the plants. I haven't been interested too much in gardening partly because bending over is a true pain with a bad spine. So this Spring I am going to get a rolling cart.

Some of the girls are wearing Spring and Summer things now and I'm glad to see skin. I've never been fond of stockings and tights are so popular this year I am just glad for warm weather and skin. Of course a person can be totally white after the winter we have all had. But I'll be doing a little recuperating outside in the sun. Maybe I'll actually get a little color this year.

I've really been enjoying the decor blogs of late. Must be the coming of Spring. But I'll need to wash my windows to make sure.

I am so grateful for the new friends joining me on the blog and for all the good wishes. This is a fabulous way to stay connected if getting out is hard.

Hello old friends

I'm home and so far so good. I am so grateful for the terrific thoughts I have received during the last couple of weeks. I have a new feeling of optimism now that the surgery is over and I'm looking forward to getting back to photos and to doing a lot of work fixing up the house. I'm ashamed of it the way it is. I vow to fix it. Thanks for all the good words.

Doctor, Doctor

Surgery tomorrow. I am certain that I will be glad to get the knee fixed and I am equally certain that it will be a bummer getting it done. I'm not sure how long it will be before I'll be able to sit and blog. I am sure I will miss reading the blogs even if it's just one day. I'm also sure there had better be some good meds or I'm likely to become Medusa. I have a plan. I will fill a basket with the things I'll need and have them next to the sofa. Like meds, books, foods, drinks, and a wastebasket. Oh and the phone. That way maybe I won't have to get up too much. Just think of me as walking a la Frankenstein for a few days. And being _itchy.

Still learning after all this time

I'm happy to announce that Paula Devi of Through My Eyes 365 has sent me some instructions on linking. So I'll try. I would like to again send the Blog award to Literal Gemini-Plus Size Pretty at , to Ofelia at My Intended Life, , and to Sarah at That Damn Green Dress, . I just love Paula to death for helping me. I so didn't know what to do. She and the other ladies mentioned in the blogs are great bloggers. You will like them.

I'm so excited

Random blog award. I feel pretty random most of the time. Thanks for thinking of me.

Things few people know:

1. I used to be a teacher of Spanish. I can still read it some but haven't spoken it in 30 years.

2. I had an almost 11 pound baby without anesthaetic. I used the Lamaze technique- breathing technique. It was awesome.

3. I have a favorite sport to watch-swimming.

4. I read vampire and witch novels. Love them.

5. I didn't learn how to use my camera, plan an outfit, or really put on appealing make-up until I started blogging.

6. I have done paintings in watercolor, oils, and acrylics and in pastels. I have made dolls, jewelry, and clothing. I have a degree in decorating and I have been a welder.

7. I am grateful to be a part of the blogging community.

Beatrice at One More Curve tagged me and I am passing Random Things on to:
Literal Gemini-Plus Size Pretty, Ofelia at My Intended Life, and Sarah at That Damn Green Dress.

I would have links to these terrific sites but I don't have a clue how to do it. If I could get some help from anyone out there, Please, Please let me know.

Now I have

Now I have to get ready for surgery next Tues on my knee. I'm sure Devil Dog will make things more interesting.

I am showing a couple of photos of Shadow at the lake on the boat with Brian and with a fish. She wouldn't chase a stick, she would chase a dead fish. Whoda thunkit? Anyway, she loved the lake and we loved taking her. Cody is pretty good at the lake but she doesn't like to get in over her head. We haven't taken Cheyenne but I'll bet she will take to the water like a fish.

I'm including a pic of Brian with one of the fish he has caught. Good eating.

The back of my house. New deck. Now I need to work on fixing up but there are so many great blogs on it that I'm sure it'll be fun.

And then there is my colorful lantern. I paid 20 dollars for it in the clearance bin and it was missing some of the jewels. Guess what. They were inside the lantern. Being a person who loves color, it's one of my favorite things. I would have some wild colors in one of my rooms but I just haven't done it. I loved the remix show that used to be on HGTV and I kept saying to myself that I would love to have some of the stuff they have on the show. So I look around and I do. While I'm laid up with the knee thing(2 days), I'm going to try to plan some things . Of course I already have some in my head. But unfortunately I'm reluctant to start anything only to have to put off finishing it. I'm bad about that already. Don't need excuses.

I am really looking forward to lots of good blogs about decorating in addition to those about dolls, art, fashion, and other stuff. I love to see the creativity of other women and men.

Shadow

My Shadow passed away this morning at the vet's office. She was a lovely dignified lady who enriched my life for almost 14 years.

Hello Miscelaneous

I needed a short break from the color confusion I am having. It's Spring. Isn't it? Will someone tell Mother Freakin Nature to fix this. And I'm not even talking about the heavy snows in the northern parts of the country. We had 3 hours of sun yesterday. 3 hours between cold and cloudy and cold and rainy. Three hours. Then I woke up last night to the sound of rain blowing up against the side of the house. And It's Cold. And it's April. Somehow I think Mother Freakin Nature has been April fooling for the last couple of weeks. The Forsythia has bloomed. The trees have bloomed. Cherry and other. The Jonquils have bloomed. The tulips and the dogwood trees are starting to bloom. And it's COLD. Yeah. Cold.

I wore a brown outfit that I hadn't had on in over a year. More specifically, I wore a brown top. Brown is how I felt Thursday. Because it's Cold. And I've found that SAD can continue on into the Spring if the sun fails in it's duties. And I've found that the less sun we have, the madder I get. Aren't you glad you don't live with me?
The brown was muddy, like the weather outside and like my mood. And of course, Cheyenne had to say hi right at the time the pic was taken.

Friday I woke up determined to brighten up and feel more energy. I finally put on the patterned sweater I had gotten at Kohls. I felt so feminine and happy. And then there were 3 whole hours of sun. Things were definitely looking up. Then the clouds came back, I finished cleaning the kitchen floor, my back hurt and I just growled at the dogs for tracking in mud. We must do something about the back yard. I have a plan. I just have to talk him into it.

I have been checking out some of the decorating and vintage blogs. There are some really beautiful homes out there. I am anxious to work on my home. I have put it off long enough. The basic structure is great but I am definitely not satisfied with much of the house. It'll be good for me to paint, etc. The problem is that with this weather I'm wanting to paint everything yellow and white. Not bad for a small area but can you imagine a totally yellow and white house? Yeech

I have included a pic of the Devil Dog including red eyes. I don't have a clue how to get rid of it. And I am wearing black loafer style shoes like some red ones I have.

I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon Tuesday. I'll find out about the surgery then. Fingers crossed.

A pink striped pattern floral

It's all of the above. I love the look of the shirt. It's been in my closet for a couple of weeks since I went to Kohls with a gift card. I'm in love with the concept, the price was right. But, alas, I had never considered how it would look on me. Of course on the models in the flyers the top is just super. On me, not so much. But I think it's beautiful. So I wore it. And after much trying on, finally found earrings that look ok with it.

And the dogs... quiet