Inspiration Boards - Do You Have One?

My BFF, Sharon sent me this amazing and wonderful quotation by Dorothy Sayers that I thought I'd share with all of you today: 

"Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force".

So there we go - one more reason for me to be me, and I totally love this one. I've printed it out and I'll add it to my "Inspiration Board" so that I don't lose it. What? You don't have an "Inspiration Board"? It's something I read about and made many years ago, and it actually works, on a subconscious level. 

My Inspiration Board is a bit more permanent that this, and
has a bit less white space, but the concept is firm - things
that will inspire you to achieve your long-term goals. 

Ideally an inspiration board or a goals board is something you should see every day. It should depict goals you want in your life, and things that motivate you to achieve those goals. Mine has a variety of things on it including quotations from Picasso and Bradbury, as well as fake money (because, it would be nice to actually earn some $ sometime - LOL) and a printout of my first LOTRO character because I really wanted to look like her. I do look over my Inspiration Board every now and again - it's not in a super accessible place right now because boxes of packed books are blocking easy visibility. I still totally work with what's on there. 

Inspiration Boards should be very visible at your workspace, because
they should be pulling you through the tough spots and inspiring you
to continue in your achievements. Everyone's board will be
different. 

When I was focused on losing weight and getting into physical condition, one of the things I thought about was that picture of my LOTRO character - svelte and competent. When I got into a problem area with a crafting project, or was under a deadline to get my holiday cards designed, colorized and out of the door, I thought about several of the quotations which taught me to run with the changes and embrace them into my art. 

I love this cloth-covered corkboard-style of Inspiration Board. My own
board is a piece of picture board from my picture framing studio area.
Most boards are changeable, mine is not, but down the line, after I've
moved into my new craft area, I'll make a new board which might have
more flexibility. 

My "Inspiration Board" holds a postcard from Just-Ann-Now that features amazing stained glass work with a piece of moon rock - reminding me of beauty and spectacular goals, as well as on-line friends. It has a postcard of a field of wildflowers in front of the snowcapped mountains of Colorado so I don't forget my roots. It has reminders that I don't need to live expensively to live large. It's got a lot of good reminders. 

I rather like this Inspiration Board basis - the metal grid allows
for each placement of things that inspire. It's very minimalist,
and quite brilliant in concept. 

So today I'll add that quotation by Dorothy Sayers to the board, because it resonates with me. Maybe it will resonate with you too, or maybe you should make your own "Inspiration Board". I know it's one tool that has worked for me for many years now. Happy Tuesday, we're snow-free until tomorrow, but the end part of our week will probably really suck with a Spring snowstorm. Ugh! I'll be back tomorrow, and I hope you have a fabulous and creative day. 

Monday Monday - So Much Still To Do

One final day of kitty care and my mornings will once more be my own. Today is the last day of July, and summer is streaming by in double-time. August is already packed full and DH and I will be working hard to get everything scheduled completed and the workers finished before winter hits.

I'll be making a lot of calendar notes, post-it notes, and
phone reminders. I have a feeling August will fly by
in a sea of appointments and dates to remember. 

The first price quotation we got for landscape grading and putting in the patio was extremely high - like gulp, turn a bit faint, and swallow hard, high. Although DH and I both like the firm and the work we've seen them do, I went on to Home Advisor and set up a second appointment with a different firm to get another quote and see if pricing from #1 would be similar to pricing from #2.

The first quote almost blew me away. I know we've
been saving for this project for years, but it was
WAY high!!!!

The pricing from quote #2 was more than 1/3 lower. This quote actually itemized the various parts of the project so that we could pick and choose if we wanted, and the time schedules of both firms are in line. I have a couple more things to check, but I think quote #2 is going to get our business. Then it's a matter of scheduling.

Here is a photo of one of their installations. Ours already has
the walls completed, but we need our patio installed and
landscape grading performed. #2 is a smaller company, but
they do all of their own work instead of subcontracting it
out. I like that. 

We need the grading done and the old patio ripped out. They will take the old patio blocks for recycling, then they'll put in a "Class 5 gravel base" underneath where we will put the new shed as well as under the patio. After the base is laid, they'll install the patio pavers.

The Anchor Guy needs to be reinstalled or moved. Whatever
the decision, it's going to be buried 18"-24" deep when we
regrade the backyard for drainage and against erosion. 

Today I'll be phoning our utility company and trying to get an appointment set up for someone to come out and look at their anchoring guy lines. They moved the lines about 20 years ago when the creek next to us was being regraded by the county. We would like them to move the anchors again, or move the buckle up because it's going to be buried almost two feet higher when we regrade the area. Getting the utility company to see things our way may well be the most difficult part of the project.

Monday - the beginning of a new week. I really need
today. a Monday sounds absolutely PERFECT to me today. 

Have a wonderful last day of July. My friend Shirebound, her mother and her delightful dog are moving from San Diego, California all the way across the country to New Jersey early this week. It's a grand adventure designed to bring her family closer together and take better care of her mom. It's always scary to start new things, even if they are the right things to do and it will be a long, but beautiful, drive. You're all in my thoughts this week. Happy Monday!

Death and Taxes and Russia, Oh My!

My income taxes are finished and I'll be picking them up this morning. This is very much a good news/bad news situation. Good news - we'll probably be getting a refund back, unlike last year when we didn't because we had sold the little house and that killed our tax status. The bad news - my accountant is expensive - worth it, but still expensive. Still, the saying is "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". Benjamin Franklin was a wise man.

Benjamin Franklin said a lot of pithy sayings that have come down and
are still said today. This is yet another one, and it's still true. 

Then there is Will Rogers, an equally wise man with a twist of humor, who said: "The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets". Yes - Will Rogers was also a very wise man.

Nonetheless, I'll be at my accountant's door when they open at 8:30 am to pick the taxes up and I'll get them a check by the end of the week so that they can file these miserable electronic pages as quickly as possible. Then DH and I can start debating how much of the refund we can put toward household expenses and how much towards savings. It's always a bit of tug-of-war.

DH and I will discuss where our refund should go. I'm
all for putting it towards our monthly household
expenses, he'll probably want to put some of it towards
this year's expenses for redoing the patio and finishing
the castle walls. Also, he wants a shed built. 

Also, it seems I now owe my life to Russia. Ack! Live Journal, of course, although it had been Russian in the background, officially moved their operations to Russia late last year, causing a stir in the mix and some defections to Dreamwidth. Like many of my friends, I use Dreamwidth too, but my main to-go is Live Journal. LJ is where my friends and my communities are. Yesterday's update seemed to revolve around a new User's Agreement. I read through the agreement legal language and, even though I'm not that happy with it, I still hit the "I Agree" button. Meh! I haven't seen any other app that suits me as well in friends and in fiction, so I am now an American e-Russian. Oy!

I looked through hundreds of photos of Russia, but ended up with this
one. Why? Because St Basil's is always beautiful, and sometimes
it's good to remember that beauty exists everywhere, even in Russia. 

Lots of birthdays today, which I'll be posting separately. I'm going to slap in my photos for the day and get going on those so I won't be late for the pool. Here's hoping everyone had a fantastic Tuesday. I'd better get going on my SWG story for the month - the clock is ticking....

Steps, Trees and Mantle

Good morning all. Are you bleary-eyed from watching last night's final presidential debate? I let DH watch it and I skipped it. I've already voted and really didn't need to get my blood pressure up listening to the two candidates spew. DH is in a fix, though. He's a lifelong Republican who hates Donald Trump and refuses to vote for him, but he hates Hillary and the Clinton Foundation just as much. Fortunately Tuesdays are his normal day off, so if he decides to vote, he can get to the polling center in mid-day when the lines will be much shorter, and he doesn't need to make a final decision about voting until November 8th.

DH spent Tuesday working on the steps. He redid several of
them and then shaped and placed the capstones onto each
one. They're looking good, aren't they? 

In the meanwhile, he's working on the steps for the castle. He spent Tuesday laying out the capstones and cutting them to shape. They're beautiful now, and if things dry out enough by the afternoon, he might try using the adhesive on a few of the steps. Everything has to be dry for that, though, and in our fall temperatures, the morning dew takes a few hours to dry from the stone.

Here's a detail look at the first two steps with their capstones
on top of them. If all goes well today, he'll start gluing
those capstones into position. 

I had John from Monster Tree out yesterday to look over the yard and give us a quote. He was fabulous - extremely professional. He had his tablet computer or iPad with him from the beginning, taking measurements and photos and making notes. He spent almost 45 minutes looking at each tree, finally came up with a number and before his car had left the driveway, I had his quote in my email inbox. He came in more than $1000 less than Twin City Tree, and that included grinding the stumps. If we decide to skip that, it would knock almost another $1000 off the bottom line. I have one more guy scheduled for next week and then we'll decide, but Monster is probably who we'll end up with.

I really love their logo. We will have to be
careful with whoever we hire and watch them
to make sure the right trees are removed and our
castle walls are left intact, but we would have
to do that with anyone. I have one more bid set
up for next week, then we'll make up our minds. 

Finally, an on-line friend of a few years asked for a picture of my mantle. She posted one of hers the other day and I commented that mine was nothing like hers - very true. She's a lovely artist with a flair for color and accent pieces, and I really loved her cozy and warm mantle. My mantle extends the width of my living room and, since I have a vaulted ceiling, goes up pretty high. DH and I have been involved in the Native American art field for more than 30 years, and our artwork reflects that with three masks by Peter Ray James (Navajo), a central acrylic original by William "Bill" Rabbit (Cherokee), and a guache on the far right that we picked up in Santa Fe. This piece changes in different lighting and I love it. So there you go, Kaishin.

Above the mantle are ceramic masks by Peter Ray James, and two
paintings. On top of the mantle are a variety of items - tinwork from
Mexico, Navajo baskets and a Yeibichai processional set, candles
and figurines. The hearth is marble, the fireplace, while having a
working chimney, has never been used for actual flame. 

I'm off to the pool, then on to the shop. I got the next piece for my holiday cards in the mail yesterday, so I want to try some trial runs with my embosser before working on the actual cardstock for the next phase. Have a great Thursday!

Weekend of Work

I only get Sundays off, so perhaps the word 'weekend' in my title is inaccurate, but I suppose I work at the shop on Saturdays so that also is work. Saturday began the divisional playoff cycle in American Football with two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. We watched, both at the shop and at home. I've got to say - the games were good - really good. My Denver Broncos lost in double overtime, so it was a hard fought battle and I bow to the Baltimore Ravens for their win. The other three games were of less interest to me, but each one was hard fought and high scoring. What a great weekend of football.

My 'Slashy Valentine' story was sent off on Sunday after going through a final check-up on my main computer. This one was mostly written at the coffee shop in the mornings (nothing like writing edgy work in a public setting - LOL) and the program I use on my laptop has some issues. All stories I write on the portable have to be raked through similar programs on my desktop to correct spelling of unusual names and catch a few silly grammatical errors. I'm happy with the story, although as usual, all I did was write what the characters were showing me. But the visions were interesting...yup, quite interesting.

And I'm working on my LOTR Potluck story. I chose a musical theme this time - writing a story influenced by "Finlandia" by Sibelius. It's one of my favorite musical pieces and it's so incredibly evocative and just asking for words and themes. I'm enjoying this one, which means that it will be harder to write. Don't ask me why, I just have learned that a bit of angst helps my word and easy is a misnomer.

Finally, Sunday was the birthdate of the Man In Black - Johnny Cash. I'm not a great fan of country music, but he's an exception to the name in many ways. What I most admire about him, however, is that he was a fighter. His life was anything but easy but he kept fighting to make his music and kick his addictions. He said one of my favorite quotations that I am sharing with you today:

"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space."