A Fanciful Twist

Tea and Blooms

It is so warm here.

So sunny.

So bloomy.

So nice...

Blooming things make everything look beautiful, don't they?

I am being extra good.

Sun, rest.

Tea, vitamins & medicine.

Sweet succulent oranges...

I could eat bowls and bowls of sweet oranges, you?

Warm toast.

Missing Mammie most when I am not 100%.

Lovee asks, what does she do, that I can't do for you?

(Umm helooo?  Is he insane?)

Well for one, she would bring me Tang with a straw.

Mister Lovee says, Tang is not orange juice.

(he is a health nut  - who loves sweets)

And I say, yes, but I like Tang when I am sick.

(never mind that I have not had it in 20 years)

Then I say, and she would bring me little crackers with perfectly cut pieces of yellow cheese.

And 7-up with a straw.

(never mind that I don't really love cheese)

She would make me soup, and toast, and and and...

(even though I have had soup and toast)

I say this through a congested nose, a barely audible voice, and lots of soppy wet tears.

But mostly tears because my head is stuffed up like a water balloon.

Then Mister Lovee says, well, Mazel Tov to you.

(in his most hilarious tone)

Then he asks.......

Do you want some salsa and corn chips?

Me - quizzical look on face.

I say, no, no thanks.

Wondering to myself if chips and salsa are supposed to make you feel better?

Wondering if there is something I simply don't know?

Haha!

But in all honesty, Mister Lovee has been grand, delivering water and tea and medicine and boxes of kleenex.  We just had to keep him at a distance so he wouldn't catch anything as well.

When I got a little flutter of feeling better, I conjured up my Mom, and made a tray of goodies like she would, just for me.

From Mombie.

For pretend, but still for reals.

(Mister Lovee hates it when I say "for reals" - I don't say it that often)

I called her and told her that I made myself a Mombie tray.

And by golly.

It fixed me up.

I am sure of it!

Large poppies included.

And some other garden treats.

If that doesn't fix you up -

Well.

Then.

Call Lovee, he'll bring you chips and salsa, or anything you want.

As he says :)

There are Tinkerbell flowers everywhere in the garden.

Curious specimens!

And, lots of lavender.

Mmmmmmmm...

Oh, it feels good to breathe!

I had not been sick with a flu/cold in 5 or so years.

I was so proud of that.

But, this time....

It kicked my tooshie.

And I had certainly, never had the flu.

I thought that I had the flu in my life.

People always say they have the flu, when they have a cold.

Boy, did I find out how different the flu is from the common cold.

After this last adventure with the real flu, I am sure, I had never really had the flu.

Horrible thing.

Scary too.

If you have the flu, I hug you.

Now, make sure you wash your hands any chance you get.

No hands in mouth or eyes or face.

Follow all the tips for not getting the flu.

Okay?

I am obsessive about these things, and I still got it.

But, we have to try to keep the germs at bay :)

My Dad and I had it at the same time, so we got to whine about our ailments over the phone everyday.  Or at least tried through coughing fits.

He had a great nurse.

My Mammie.

Lucky duck!

But he only got the flu.

I got the flu for a few days, then I got a sneezing head cold on top of it.

Mister Lovee and the boys were extra busy while I was hacking up a lung.

They put irrigation in the vegetable garden!!

YAY!!!

Being really really sick makes you have all of these midnight thoughts.

Right?

Thoughts about being a better person.

Taking better care of yourself.

Following you dreams more.

Listening to you heart.

You make plans at 3 a.m. as you drift in and out of consciousness.

A couple nightmares.

A couple shezam moments.

A lot of desperation to get well.

A lot of wanting to not take things for granted.

That's the biggest perk, to a cough that makes you shudder.

I suppose the majorest perk though, is getting better.

Oh yes.

Mmmmm.

Breathing is so nice!

House disinfected.

Time for some gooooodness!

Just a little way from being totally back to myself.

Hooooray!

Love, V

 

Oh and, extra thanks to Mister Lovee, for taking care of orders, and making post office visits.

 

 

ps:  My Granny heard I was sick, and wanted to call in the cavalry!  She tells my mom, you must go get her. You must bring her "home."

My mom says to her mom, she is in her home.

Then she says to my granny -

Are you kidding?

Vanessa would be kicking and screaming, she won't come with me if I go get her.

Then my mom asks me, would you?

And I go, heck no, through laughter.

Then I say -

I wanna be in my own bed - plus, I don't want you to get sick.

And my mom says, ya, I knew it.

:)

  Isn't that hilarious?  Grandmas are the bestest.  They always see you as a 5 year old baby. 

I love it.

Makes you feel loved.

The Boys

My boys are something else.

Are they really as cute and lovely and wonderful as they seem, or does my love for them simply aid me in perceiving them as such?

That is probably the case, but it doesn't really matter does it?

You love your furs, you think they are amazing and hilarious, and they fill your heart cup.

That is all that matters. 

Isn't that grand?

My boys run so fast, you fear for your life as they swoosh right by you.  They tumble as they run, skidding across the driveway in a cloud of dust.  They play hard, and they love their toys.  They have a great big bag of toys, and Miles is the first one to pull out a toy and taunt you to play with him.

If I am on the couch, they both want to be right beneath me, on the rug by the couch.

(Miles' actual spot is at my feet on the sofa, only he is so big, he takes up most of the space)

It's funny, how intuitive furs can be.

There they were, me not feeling well, them playing quietly right by my side, pulling stuffingless Super Mario from each other...

Miles is stronger than any of us, but Matty usually wins the toy by exerting his big brother deep growl.

So, there they were playing.

Back and forth, tugging.

And then all of a sudden...

Silence.

Right in the middle of their game, they fell asleep.

Paw to paw.

Still holding onto their toy.

It must have been a really long day, in the land of fur.

:)

Don't they know just how to win us over?

I am having a hard time not sharing my edibles with my pups.

Miles will eat anything.

Fruit, veggies.

I usually let him have anything he wants off my plate, within reason.

Although, we mostly put them outside with their own food when it is meal time.

(and, I am careful not to give him anything he should not have)

Yes, I am one of those people.

Who knew it would come to this?

I know, bad bad.

First I become a full fledged dog person, then I let them have their way.

Haha!

But, Miles makes this long face, and puts his head on my lap, and looks up at me with these huge dark eyes and blonde eyelashes, and I melt...

Then, he gets a roasted carrot.

And Matty, what a character, he hates to eat.

Unless it is meat or toast, or his dog food, he really is not interested.

But, if Miles is begging for a carrot, Matty will take one too, and spit it out away from you, just to be part of it all.

Funny furry kids.

What is your weak point with your babes?

Are you soft or tough?

I guess I fall into the soft area.

Although, they are fairly well trained, and do lots of tricks.

So, I think they deserve to be spoiled ;)

 

Back to tea and ginger for me.

Love, V

 

 

Movies & Music + My Brother

Hi there!  Just peeking in real quick, as time is of the essence on a project that my brother is working on, which I want to share with you.  Alas, I have been majorly under the weather, and working on getting back to 100%, stinky bugs that creep up on you.  I hope to be back to myself soon.

Over the years I have shared some of the music my brother has made to go with some of my paintings, for example...

If you'd like, you can hear more here...

Anyhow the point is, my brother, whose name is Adam Valencia, is working on a new short film that I want to tell you about.

But first, I wanted to share a bit of his own personal work.  So, I begged him to load his short reel onto YouTube so I could share it here.  It is a menagerie, little snippets if you will, of some of his work...

He has also worked on all sorts of projects for other folks.  I am not sure what I am or am not supposed to share in that realm though.

He is always up to something interesting.  Traveling all over the world, making films.

(Adam on the far left)

I love seeing him work on films for himself.  It is great to make films for other people, but you also have to do your own thing.  It is all part of the path to reaching dreams, and learning and growing.  Adam is in his early twenties, which is such an exciting time.

I love watching what he is up to.

I am about 12 years older than him.

I used to crawl into his bed with him when he was a baby, and hug him and kiss his baby face.  I would carry him around, and smother him with love... 

That is, until he started warding me off with a plastic baseball bat. 

Haha!

But now, he is a mad movie making scientist, all growed up, and doing deliciously exciting things!

But, there I go veering again.

The point -

Adam is hoping to making a short film. 

He is using kickstarter to raise funds for his film.

More details here.

A bit of a scary popcorn flick.

Fun fun! 

I love scary movies.

I think making all sorts of movies, especially early in your career, is so important.  There is so much learning and growing that happens with each project.

Good Luck Adam!!

♥

 

 Hope to be back here just as soon as I feel better.

Love, V

 

 

ps:  I am supposed to have destroyed my fave photo from several years ago, of me and Adam.  It is an actual paper photo taken with a disposable camera, hence the graininess.  He was making a funny face, not on purpose, tee hee!  I love the photo, but I understand not posting photos that others don't want you to post.  So, it is me and my brother, as a raccoon ;)

(I am standing on a little curb, since my brother is much taller than me)

Feeling Crafty {Toilet Paper Flowers}

In the mood for crafting up some easy paper flowers?  Then get out your toilet paper, and join me, won'tcha?

A couple years ago I was playing with different kinds of paper for making flowers, and I found myself making a toilet paper rose.  It was so pretty.  I decided to spray some tea water on it to age it, and it turned into a wad of mush (what was I thinking?), so I tossed it and forgot about it.

As you know, I love making paper flowers.  Cutting them, making them out of coffee filters.  I just love easy homemade crafts.  They amuse me like mad.

Today I was playing with toilet paper, and found myself making toilet paper anemones of sorts.

I love the white and the bright, and the simple of it all.

Plus, I adore how the toilet paper embossing looks.

So, lets try one -

All you need are pipe cleaners or craft wire, and toilet paper to begin...

I would say about 15 - 18 squares (all attached in one long piece of toilet paper) make up one lovely flower.

Leave a one square tail, and then just start looping and gathering your toilet paper towards the center...

You will get about 6 or 7 loops...

Then, secure the bottom tightly with a pipe cleaner, twisting it until it is tight.

And that's it.

A sweet little flower for you.

Even Mister Lovee thought playing with toilet paper was fun.

I made about 12 flowers with half a roll of toilet paper.

I just love how the embossed texture of the toilet paper looks, don't you?

You can twist your pipe cleaner around the little tail you left on your flower, like below...

Make a bunch, and you'll have the softest bouquet ever ;)

There are so many different types of flowers you can make.

Roses, rosettes and more...

Just play around, and you will have lots of beautiful flower surprises.

The funnest part is playing with different ideas for centers...

I have more felt balls than any one person should own, so of course, I reached for them as my centers.  Colorful and pretty.

Then I caught a glimpse of a box of corsage pins, and smaller pearl end pins, and I thought, perfect little centers for my felt balls...

Takes away the need for glue, yay!

The pin holds the center in perfectly.

I also tried some scrap ribbon as a center, and that worked out cute too...

I gathered some bright spring colors, and quickly had centers in all of my flowers.

I love fluffy white flowers, so these make me quite happy.

A pretty and easy craft to try at home any ole time.  You can use anything for your centers.  Buttons, pom poms, old jewelry pieces.  Anything really.  You can also opt to hot glue your centers in.

Anything colorful looks good in the center of a bright white flower.

Wouldn't you say?

I think I should try putting these around a small styrofoam wreath, for a little spring flair, and hang it in our powder room.  Yes, I think that's a plan...

;)

See you soooooon!

Love, V