Stormy Day In Iowa

Looks like we are in for a very rainy day

Morning Visitor

They are beautiful to look at. Makes me happy when I can look out the window and see this.

Only had my phone so didn’t get to good of a pic.

Hope everyone has a good weekend…

Goodbye Brady

I hate this…

Brady lost the battle. It was not the kidney disease that got him, it was the arthritis. He got to the point where he could barely walk and was in constant pain. No one wants to say goodbye, no one wants to watch a beloved pet suffer. I agonized over the decision. Went to the vet twice, discussing it. And he would just get more stressed and then crash for days after. I could not do that to him anymore. He deserved better. When I let him go he was snuggled in my arms with tears rolling down my face. Telling him he was loved and what an amazing boy he was. And that he would be loved and missed every day.

It has been 10 long days since I said Goodbye to Brady. I knew the day was coming, had known for a long time. But it still was horrible, still hurt, still does. I think about him all the time. I look for him when I walk in the door. Reach to pet him when I am watching TV. But he is gone. My other cats look for him, they call to him. They mourn and miss him too. People think animals don’t feel it but they do. They are more clingy and constantly have to be laying on me or follow me from room to room. They always do that but not this bad. Allie is really bothered by it, she shows it more than Simon. She is alot more bitey towards everyone. Chirps for him. Just sucks all around.

Eventually the hurt will not be so bad. But I am always going to miss him, always look for him. And I hope that he is with his other brothers and sisters that have passed before him. And they will all be waiting for me.

Love you Brady….

Finally

Finally January is over. It was definitely a FML month that’s for sure. You think every New Year , that year is going to start out amazing and you have high hopes. Yeah that lasted all of 5 seconds.

Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all horrible or. Ad. But a good percentage, let’s just say it sucked.

Snow storms, sub zero temps, family stuff, Brady. It all starts to add up and most of January I was just done. Full of anxiety, hostility and just burnt out. Think a lot of it was an accumulation over several months and January it came to a boil.

Hoping February things are better.

Good news is Brady is still with me. He’s had some rough spells and I thought I was going to lose him but he’s hanging in there.

And it was pushing 60 today and the sun was out and it was sooo nice. Was beautiful.

But my I’m going to blog more last month took a nose dive with all that was going on. All those issues are still there. But today I’m not feeling overly fed up.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying some nice weather!

Winter Wonderland

I’m over it! Two storms in a week and way to much snow for my liking..But it is pretty.. I am sure kids will love playing in it, til the bitter chill gets here and drives them back inside..

Some Ink

Some ink drawings I did as a gift. Did ghem the way they wanted and they loved them…

Hollyhocks

Well it’s my attempt at them anyway. Done in pencil on watercolor paper.

Just Playing

Acrylic on Canvas board. Didn’t want it to be “realistic” but just wanted bright and fun.

These were Hiding

I do remember the day I took these. It was overcast, windy and a bit chilly. Prefer that weather over the snow thats headed our way…

Happy New Year

Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying a day off. Or hopefully anyway.

New Years always bring on the resolutions and the “it’s going to be better” comments. I do it every year but this year I need to stick with it.

My first is Be Better at keeping up with my blog. I love my blog, I enjoy doing it but sometimes life gets in the way or something comes up and it’s put on the back burner. I don’t need to do it every day but I do need to be more consistent with it.

Number 2. Another thing I love is Photography. I honestly can’t remember when I went out and did landscapes or wildlife. It’s been awhile that’s for sure.

Third, my Art. I have probably done more painting than anything else the last few months. I painted each Holiday card I sent out and did some Paintings for my nephews family and some ink drawings. And I am trying to get better at it. But painting is still a challenge for me.

And writing. I have always loved writing stories. And one day I will finish.

Those are just a few. I will stick to them.

But I hope each of you have a wonderful year full of happiness. Good Luck with your Resolutions if you do them!

The Leaves Are Fading

Productive Afternoon

Had a great time working on my art project. This will be part of a set hopefully, it isn’t done yet, but hopefully will be finished in a few days. Fingers crossed!

It Starts with Inspiration

A Blank Canvas

An Outline

And Then It Begins

Brady Update….Bit Long

Its been over a year since brady was diagnosed with CKD or chronic Kidney Disease. He has had ups and downs but seemed at a steady rate for awhile. But he has had 2 set backs. Earlier in the summer it was hot and extremely humid. It was alot for him and he got run down. Would not eat much, lost weight, slept alot. Not much interaction. House was cool but still it got to him. So I got him some cooling pads which surprisingly worked and he loved, tried different foods. It helped

Things improved but it took awhile for him to bounce back. Couple weeks ago he took another turn. He had lost weight again, more muscle wasting. Which the CkD will do that. And he had developed a severe limp. I thought he had broken a leg or dislocated his shoulder some how. With the muscle wasting he’s not always the sturdiest when he jumps.

Off to the vet we go. Brady hates going, he gets stressed, he drools and some of his numbers on his blood work go up. And he gets the nickname Grumpy Cat at clinic and probably worse when I am not within ear shot. He does NOT like to be carried, especially by strangers through a loud scary place. Second time they took him back for blood, said take him in his carrier, everyone will be happier. He gets checked over, xrays, full bloodwork. I wait forever. Vet comes back.

Good news/Bad news. He did not break or dis locate anything But he has Osteoarthritis and his Kidney values have worsened. He is stage 3/4. And hes slightly anemic.

My heart sank, you try not to panic or think its over as you look at him and see he is in pain and not doing good. I can’t fix him, no one can. We can just do our best to not let it get worse and to make him comortable and happy. Hard to do when he is kind of a Grump tho.

My vet gave me a checklist she has for the different stages of CKD that list basically what needs to be changed, added or adjusted based on where he is at. Which is Food, vitamins, supplements, phos binder. I have hopefully made changes in the right direction. Will do blood work again in a few months to see if theres any more changes good or bad.

The pics of the handwritten items, those are my list of, well some, of the good and bad cat food. CkD cats need a low phosphorus food, which most dont like the prescription diets, it can cause them to lose muscle tone but not sure what it is about the food they dont like. Brady is on the fence with most. So I went through alot of the food he does like, well he no longer can eat it except every once in awhile with the phos binder.

It can all be confusing, overwhelming and scary cause you do not want to screw up and do the wrong thing. But for now he is still plugging along and fighting beside me. And I hope I have a few more years with him.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Brady n Simon (asthma kitty)

Brady at Vet, they call him Mr Grumpy

Brady hates when anything camera looks at him

Missed Taking Pics..

Was a perfect fall day, dark, kind of dreary and cool, to get out and go for a drive around the lake. Atleast in my opinion. Hadn’t picked up my camera for any fall photos or any photos really in awhile. So was nice having it out again. Made me realize I need to get out more often and not neglect the things I love doing..

Hope everyone had a great weeiend.

Little Bit of…

Watercolor Line and Wash and Sketching…Def have flaws as usual but I still like them. And I am new to watercolors which are much harder than I thought it would be..Or how i remember. But I will get it figured out.

Never Again

I think lol.. This took forever to do and I’m not sure I would want to again. Unless it was to do a better job or a different design. It definitely has flaws and issues. It was easy to mess up and lose what you were doing. Not to mention cats wanted to help.

But I do like it.

The Whale

Rough draft of the whale, I like how it turned out. But painting it will be totally different, fingers crossed I don’t screw that up… just need to figure out what I want for background etc.

Ocean Life

Been doing some rough sketches of a few things like turtles, whales, and other things. Don’t have the whale done yet but here are a couple of the others. I plan on doing some paintings once I get a handle on doing their shapes or how I want them to look. But it’s been fun doing something that I don’t normally do.

Hope everyone is doing well….Enjoy your day!

Summer needs to End

Have not been around much lately. Been way to hot off and on and busy with other things. But I am over summer and over this heat. Our dew point is already in the 70s. Those 80s are going to feel like winter once they get here.. lol

Hope everyone stays cool and Safe!

Tree For A Day

Been awhile since I have done any trees, kinda out of practice. So today is a drawing day, which I should keep up on. Work in progress though so be kind please!

Hope everyone is having an awesome day..

2023 GoodReads Reading Challenge

I love to read, im not to picky as long as it catches my interest and does not keep me up at night cause I am afraid to close my eyes. lol

Kept forgetting Goodreads does a challenge for the year, and thought why not go for it this year. I set 40 as my goal even though I can probably surpass that. Especially once it starts getting really hot. And I am in a position where I can sit and read for a period of time without being interupted. But 40 is a good goal.

Right now I am on book 17 and will probably be done with it by tomorrow sometime. But it was a beautiful morning to sit out on the deck and get a good start on it. Til it got to windy.. I have never read this author before, but so far it is not bad and I would reccomend it.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Wheels on the Wagon

Are going nowhere but I like them anyway….

Dew Drops

Time Spent Alone

Can be a good thing.

Feast Your Eyes

One more (for real this time, i think) on the colors of Spring….

Silent Knight

This guy stood vigil for many years at the family farm. He basically stood at the entrance to the start of the timber. Every time I would ride by him, I would say hello. It was kind of a comfort knowing he was there. But sadly, over the years the weather and elements were not kind to him and he fell apart, it was just to much for him. I think he has a replacement, but he is not out yet. Not sure what happened to Rusty, I’m sure though wherever he is at he’s enjoying his retirement.

I am the Shadow

Lumpy and Smooth

Just found it interesting..

Hate to See You Go

Farewell Tulips, will see you again next Spring. These are the last of my tulip pics for this year. I think anyway, sometimes I set some aside for a rainy day. Hopefully you have enjoyed them as much as I have.

I definetly enjoyed my outing to Pella and look forward to next year and hopefully spending a little more time there.

Have a great day….stay happy and safe!

It’s a Jungle Out There

Morning view…

Window Box

Love the colors and the iron work..

Pop of Color

To brighten your day!

The scent of Spring

They will be coming to an end soon. But love when the windows are open and you can smell lilacs on the breeze..

Three Rivers

Field of Blooms

Smell The Pretty Flowers

Walk in the Park

Walk Among the Flowers

Picnic Time

Nice spot for a picnic or just to sit an enjoy the day!

It is that time of the year again. Time for outings and picnics and what better spot to take a break and have a bite then by the river..

Around The Square

Down By The River

Pella, Iowa

Tulip a Blooming

Flowers in the Spring. More to come!

Saylorville Lake

I took this video of Saylorville last year but haven’t had a chance to post it. I took it with my phone and trying to get it to the computer to put it on here but no fun. And I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. So this is basically a test to see how well videos will work on here and if it’s something I want to add more of later on and if so future videos will be with the camera…

It was a windy day so it’s probably a bit loud. But I love the sound of the water hitting the shore..

Just click on the image to play video…

Blooming Ocotillo

Can go by many different names, candlewood, vine cactus etc. You would think looking at it, it might belong to the cactus family, but it does not, it is a shrub. They are very pretty though and are easy to pick out when you’re out hiking or walking the desert, which is where you will find them. I don’t think they would do very well in Iowa…

Even though they are very pretty to look at they have nasty little spines that let you know right away you shouldn’t touch. Yes I found out the hard way. lol

I See You

Driving Around

Different downtowns that i have been to.

Looking Up

Love Sunsets

Not a perfect shot but I still like it.

Rockin It

Daily writing prompt

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

View all responses

I think every decision helps us learn or grow, whether it is the right ones or not. So I couldn’t just pick one.

Off Into The Distance

Day Dreaming

Small Town Iowa

Hard to believe that at one time this town was active and had thriving businesses. Sad that our small towns are disappearing.

We Need

More Tulips and flowers in the World…Can not wait for flower season to start!

Water Play

These are older but I need to do more of these….

Love the Horses

Daily writing prompt

What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?

View all responses

Equestrian events…Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing.

Sit For a Spell

Time to sit back after a long day with your favorite drink and enjoy some quiet time..

Columbus Museum Gardens…Georgia

Beautiful place to spend time walking the paths, finding a spot to sit for a spell or both. But worth a visit.

Iris in Spring

can not wait for everything to start blooming again…

Blossoms

Churches of New Mexico

Rose Fountain

On the Edge

A Bit Rusty

Been awhile since I have tried drawing a tree, I def need to keep at it and not slack..

Winter in Georgia

Columbus, Georgia

View of Columbus from the Alabama side..

Road Trip

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

Driving the truck, taking as many backroads as possible seeing as much as I can. Although going by train might be fun once. Just to see what its like..

Hello Spring…..

Your finally here!

You know how some songs just make you happy or sad or make you want to dance? Well the song I can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff is one of those songs for me. Every time I hear it, just makes me happy and makes me want to do a happy dance. So enjoy the day and enjoy a little Jimmy!

Birds of Paradise

Follow The White Snowy Trail

Ice Crystals

The Adobe

Follow The Road

The Birch

Early Thaw

💕💘 Heart Day ❤💞

Happy Valentines Day! Hope everyone has a wonderful day..

For those that usually go out and buy premade Heart cookies my sister shared a quick and easy alternative.

Easy Valentines Desert

1 Heart shape baking pan (could use any size)

1 Premade refrigerated chocolate cookie dough (or your favorite or mix and match)

Frosting (favorite one)

Sprinkles

Break apart cookie dough and place around heart shaped pan leaving a little space in between each one. Bake according to package.

Let cool, once cooled add your frosting and sprinkles..

Enjoy!

Down Home

Eagles Have Landed

I wasn’t as close as I would have liked to been but felt lucky enough to get the few shots I did. There were other young ones flying but stayed clear. I think they were after something in the field. But I love the sounds they make and the older one was rather vocal..