Judi's Flying Monkeys

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Just had to share

Amazing that someone put this much time in to a dish collecting passion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEmW_fzPd64

Monday, July 30, 2007

Monday thoughts. . . . .

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!
WHY DID OUR AUNTS LOOK SO
OLD...AND WHY DID... 50 SEEM LIKE
"over the hill?"
Oh...maybe because I was 16 and people over 30 were old
and not to be trusted!
LOL
I had an Aunt that acted all thongish
even though she was all cotton-ish!
(wink) My favorite Aunt!
She also put her lipstick waaaaaaaaaaay
outside her lips, now that I wear reading glasses I
see how that happened!
Who remembers the dutch girl
tulip curtains?...or better yet....
knitted toilet tissue covers that looked
like poodles?
I love this verse!
I can't remember where I
found it....but
I put it in my daily
journal and everytime
I see it....
I feel great!
Follow the paths of falling stars,
let your skin shimmer in the sunlight,
bathe in the moonlight and let your soul dance
to the celebration of
the universal music!

All that you touch All that you see All that you taste All you feel. All that you love All that you hate All you distrust All you save. All that you give All that you deal All that you buy, beg, borrow or steal. All you create All you destroy All that you do All that you say. All that you eat And everyone you meet All that you slight And everyone you fight. All that is now All that is gone All that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. "There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark."

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Glitter Sister Fest 2008


(click on photo to enlarge view)
Oh my GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWD, I'm so excited about the gathering of sisters!

I have been looking through my Arizona photos remembering the most awesome and spiritual feelings from that trip! It was like I went into another plane and everything was surreal. I made my first post on the GPS gathering board! I posted a photo taken from a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. Woo-hoo!
Now if you enlarge the photo above you will see the exploration hiking trails. If you really look down to the far right at the trails....If you girls think you might want to do that....Adios Amegos!
I will hold a cool refreshing beverage and wave you off and welcome you back. When I walked out the hotel door I felt like I was opening a pizza oven, it was 110 degrees at the time. My flip flops were melting just walking on pavement!
. . there were also people going down on
sweaty mules! uuughh...I can think of 500 million things I rather do than ride a mule
down a steep trail with jaggy rocks and 1,000 plus foot drop offs!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Pirate and Wench Costume Party







Remember Miss Scarlet to the far left? She made a quick appearance this week end. Ms. Bea to the right was there in a festive mood! Vanna (center) was keeping a low profile!





Two RedHeads in the same room means ONE of them has to GO!
Ms. Scarlet left in a hurry because she was awfully nervous.
I hear the police picked her up and
threw her back in the
slammer! Poor Scarlet, she is so unstable!
What great fun playing with alter egos!
Great big kids having lots of FUN!

(above)
Lovely Ms. Bea Havin'
We had a BLAST!
Below Miss Taffy the Dancing Copyright
(below in the red frilly skirt)
could not sit still! She had on chartreuse crocs too!
Pirate Jeff and Wench Saarin!


Maria and Kitt were the winners!

Me and Marjorie. I thought the S.S. Noble was so funny because
I used to have a car with that name!
It was a BIG car with a fog horn!
You can't see my pirate hat!

More photos of PIRATE AND WENCH Party on this link!
http://www.plumfiesta.com/HLCCA-2007Conference/




Monday, July 23, 2007

Photos of Golf Day

Isn't Corie a cutie? She can make me laugh with her quick come backs!
It was a beautiful day. Look at those clouds!
The first four people from left to right were our rivals. We had to take away their title of coming in LAST place for the past five years. Somehow we lost our score card in the confusion of a search and rescue team coming after us! Mr. Dan to the right was on my team looks awfully chummy with the PIRATES! Our team was the Harried Potters, since the new harry Potter book was released that day and we do work at a pottery and we were pretty harried! The kilt guy is wearing a home made kilt! He bought fabric and rigged up some kind of design with pins and a flap!
Yes, he did get a lot of second looks! Hmmmmm. I have a picture of our team that I'll scan and post later.



Monday, July 16, 2007

Awesome day!

(click on all photos to enlarge)
Did you ever want to take things from a finished piece of art to use on another?
I bought the Milagros hand in a small shop in NYCity and would love to add it to
to an art bracelet I am making. I can't let myself do that because this is the art challenge
that introduced me to the Glitter Sisters. I entered the piece to a CPS challenge and guess what? It was rejected. At first I was shocked then I remembered...
I did it to reconnect to myself.
The whole time I spent working on this piece I was totally LOST to the rest of the
world. It was the clarity I needed. I've grown so much since I worked on this piece.
I've opened up parts of me that I forgot about. I've made so many new friends since then.
I am so very grateful everyday for so many things.
Tonight I saw a patch of purple flowers along the backwaters.
No one was fishing so I pulled over and opened the hatch door,
sat and just listened to the quiet. I felt like I was "under the influence of water."
I was glad I had my camera but I didn't have a sketch pad or markers,
tomorrow I will.



She's also called the RED BROOM!
In the background are the wild flowers . . . . and I did
stop to smell them!
The backwaters (as they are called) are kind of like "small lakes" that
are close to a large dam on the Ohio River. The water goes UP and DOWN all the time.
If we are in a flood situation the water goes above the
bridge and highway to the left.
This small patch of wild flowers reminded me of the movie,
"what dreams may come."
A few feet away were the usual beer bottles and trash from
irresponsible boneheads! LITTERBUGS......THEY really make me crazy!
I did pick up a small piece of paper that read;
You know that I am writing this through tears and I can
barely see ........
(that was it)

On to something funny.

A friend went white water rafting downstate and they were selling

Tshirts; "If you hear BANJO music...paddle faster!"





Sunday, July 15, 2007

POTTERY MAN


THIS WILL BE THE "BEFORE" PHOTO!
I'm getting ready to totally alter Potteryman. This has been on the back burner for over a year and I brought him upstairs for the transformation. I found wire and lots of rusty gadgets that will look awesome on this. I also have a lot of new textured papers and paints to experiment with. Please poke and prod me to get busy.........I have been procrastinating too long!


Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Wonderful Daffodil Story

A story someone shared with me.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.





"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. ?

"Just one woman," Carolyn answered.
"She lives on the property. That's her home."
Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster.

"Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.


That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world . "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle.



Stop waiting to find happiness.....



Until your car or home is paid off



Until you get a new car or home



Until your kids leave the house



Until you go back to school



Until you finish school



Until you clean the house



Until you organize the garage



Until you clean off your desk



Until you lose 10 lbs.



Until you gain 10 lbs.



Until you get married



Until you get a divorce



Until you have kids



Until the kids go to school



Until you retire
Until summer



Until spring
Until winter



Until fall
Until you die...



There is no better time than right now to be happy.



Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money.



Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching. Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Get out the GOOD dinnerware, silver, vintage glasses and Grandma's tablecloth and set a feast for no reason at all! Today is the RAINY day of your mind. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
I know this is a long post but I have something new worth reading:
Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call, I will answer"
This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (ru bber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. "All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gathe r with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."
While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"
As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say,"Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so.&nb sp; But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost fo ur years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator! Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. >From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then cam e a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be?
I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dol ly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five month s before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."
"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24)
This awesome prayer takes less than a minute.
"Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you're not willing to move your feet.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Back to therapy!

Back to the canvas and paint. Follow the paths of falling stars, let your skin shimmer in the sunlight, bathe in the moonlight and let your soul dance to the celebration of the universal music!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Making the BEST of a dreadful....JOB!

BEFORE!
OK..............if there is a JOB that you absolutely HATE doing, try this!
Make it..........GLITTER BEAUTIOUS!!!!!!.............
Everyone that knows me.....knows that I HATE mowing the GRASS and that dang tractor!
But.............ya' know what? Give that TRACTOR a wonderful name and the rest will be a piece of cake!
Below is GLITTERIZED..... plate!

HOW COULD YOU HATE MOWING GRASS WITH THIS?