Wordless Wednesday

                   Wordless Wednesday

Hosted by Hilary of Feeling Beachie

My favorite escape ...

Julie’s Coffee Shop

Have you ever met someone and known instantly that you really liked them.   Well, I have and here is how it happened.

I am a nurse and for years I have been picking up supplies at a little Medical Supply store, in a little shopping mall, in a town nearby.   One day I found the store empty and I was very disappointed.  But, it seems, things happen for a reason.

On a beautiful afternoon about two months later, as I was driving in the same neighborhood, I spotted a sign over the store front.  It had a coffee cup, paint brushes and a camera.  I love coffee, art and photography … this is a place for me, I thought.

 

 So I stopped, walked into the store and was instantly mesmerized by an array of paintings, photographs, jewelry, coffee cups, cards, pastries … you name it.  It was all there and it was all handmade … original art.   I was already sold, and then I met Julie.  Julie has a wonderful warm smile and a kindness about her.  She is an artist, an entrepreneur, a weaver of fantasies and, she makes a great cup of coffee … an instant friendship and a favorite place to escape too.  Of course, it was too good to keep to myself, so I brought McGuffy Ann to Julie’s Coffee Shop.  Her reaction was the same as mine.  We now share this place, as a place to let us step out of our daily routines and into a world of creativity.   What a wonderful escape … Thank you Julie for being you and for your wonderful little coffee shop.

Julie features a different artist each month

Hello Julie

You can learn more about Julie the artist and about Julies Coffee Shop on

www.juliescoffeeshop.com   &

www.com-as-u-r.com

Julie is painting the cat for a pet rescue

Meet Marsha, Julie's partner and an amazing photographer

www.marshjcairophotography.com

Wedding Pictures by Marsha

Marsha's Studio

A Julie and Marsha Collaboration

That's all for now ... I wish all of you could join McGuffy and me for a cup of

Julie's coffee ...

Snow Lovin' Dog

Izzi is many things to me, but today she is my Snow Lovin' Dog ...

Click on Izzi for a romp in the snow ...

Six Word Saturday

 

Got called to fetch an Owl ...

Follow Friday

1. If I could meet one person living or dead, I would want to meet my Great Great Grandmother who was a Potawatomi Indian.  I would love to learn all about their culture and our heritage.
2. I find it hard to make myself clean house.
3. The last time I took Izzi to agility class, we ran our behinders off and learned at lot, then came home and collapsed.
4. Where are the police when the crazy drivers are here?

My First Award ...

My first award and I have McGuffy Ann of McGuffy's Reader to thank for it.  It is the “Kreativ Blogger Award” and I sincerely hope I can live up to the honor of receiving this award so early in my blogging experience … Thank you McGuffy Ann for believing in me.

 The Rules:
1. Thank & link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Answer the form questions below.
3. Share ten random facts / thoughts about yourself.
4. Nominate (at least) 7 other blogs for the Kreativ Blogger Award.

The Questions and my Answers: 

1.      Favorite Song:  I have many, most of which have memories attached to them.  I am, I said … by Neil Diamond.   It speaks to what we go through as we try to evolve into who we want to be.  Whitney Houston’s, I will always love you and her rendition of The National Anthem.  I have loved a lot of songs through my life, this doesn’t even scratch the surface.

2.     Favorite Dessert:  It used to be German Chocolate Cake, but I am turning into more of an ice cream person.  I would say it is a tossup between Chocolate Chip Mint and Pralines and Cream.

3.     What ticks me off:  Arrogance … if you think you are better than me, so be it, but don’t try to make me feel you are, because if you do … you already aren’t!

4.     If I am upset:  I become quiet until I have a plan of actions.  Then, hopefully, I will confront, deal with or compromise with the issue until I (and the other people involved if there are any) can be comfortable.

5.     Favorite Pet:  I have had cats and dogs all of my life (along with every other imaginable pet).  I can’t imagine not having one or the other or, as is the case now, both.  They are the only source of unconditional love you will ever have.

6.     Black or white:  Neither!  I love color.  I love the colors in nature and within that context I suppose you could say I love both black and white, but only as they are mixed with the colors.

7.      Biggest Fear:  I have to agree with McGuffy Ann.  I grumble about my husband frequently, but the truth is, I would be lost without him. 

8.     Everyday Attitude:  I tend to be comfortable in my own skin.  Not that I believe I have achieved what I want to achieve.  I will always be striving for something.  It is what keeps me young.   I tend to be upbeat, relatively relaxed and friendly.  I look for the good in things, because I know it is there no matter what meets the eye.  I don’t walk away from pain or ugly.  I have seen enough of it to know that it can be softened and managed.

9.     What is perfection:  My husband could tell you what it is; he strives for it every day.  I have said for years “I don’t do perfection”.  It is not that I don’t strive for high standards; it is that I am my own worst critic.  If everything I tried to do had to be perfect, I would never know the feeling of satisfaction.

10.  Guilty Pleasures:  Johnny Depp … as old as I am, I still think he is Hot!

 Ten random facts/thoughts about myself:

1.      If I have anything in my closet that isn’t blue jeans or shirts that        go with blue jeans, it is strictly by accident.

2.     Nursing was my second career.  I graduated from college with a Business Administration Degree.  That was back in the sixties when women didn’t do business degrees.  I was, most often, the only girl in my classes.  The Professors didn’t like me there because they had to clean up their act.

3.     I retired from hospital nursing ten years ago.  I am still doing Home Health Infusion nursing but will probably retire from that soon as well.  Anyone who has been a nurse knows that nursing doesn’t end when you leave your job.  You become the family nurse, the neighborhood nurse, the friend nurse, the friend of a friend nurse and even get called upon when a family pet gets hurt.  It is an all consuming profession with endless rewards (not financial).

4.     I get a huge rush when I complete something creative.  Sometimes when I write a poem, it is like someone else is guiding my pen.  And, when that happens, I usually love that poem.  Same with any other creative endeavor.

5.     I can’t eat sugar.  It is not that I am diabetic or anything like that, but when I eat sugar, I get hungry and I eat constantly.  So I gain weight until I smarten up and stop eating sugar … then I lose weight.  Oh my, I have four different size clothes in my wardrobe, sigh …

6.     I love animals.  I have since I was little and I credit my mother because she loved animals as much as I do now. 

            

7.       I cry when an animal gets hurt in a movie, but I don’t (always) cry when a human gets hurt … go figure!  It’s like the humans chose to put themselves in harms way, but when animals get hurt, it is usually because humans have put them in harms way.  People should know better.

8.      I love photography.  I don’t think I am great at it, but it doesn’t matter.  I love my pictures and love doing things and going places where I can take pictures of something new.  My “old poop” memory is so bad that I could forget even some special experiences, but my pictures keep those memories fresh in my mind.  It is like writing a memoir of my thoughts in pictures. 

9.     I hate housework.  I am my own worst enemy because I also hate a dirty house.  I make myself miserable by forcing myself to clean … but only if I have to.  I told my husband that I have to invite friends over once in awhile just so I can force myself to clean.  I need to find a way to make cleaning house creative.

     10.     I have two wonderful adult children.  My children are not perfect      … remember, I said I don’t do perfect.  But, my children are kind hearted, industrious within their abilities, and always supportive of their Mom and Dad.  Wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Now I pass this award to:

1.  Cate of Show My Face

2.  Nita Jo Little Grey Gardens

3. Noodles A Bowl of Noodles©

Cat Thursday

Pet Roast