Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Giving Tree....

*Yay* ~ I've been on somewhat of a "mission" the last few years to find this book for Wayne. I wanted to find it at the thrift store, so it would further validate the whole story of "The Giving Tree". Wayne had never heard of this book before and I couldn't wait to read it to him. So I'm looking around @ "Goodwill" and I see this tiny green book binder peeking out of a large stack of books that they had just gotten in and had not put up on the shelf yet. I just knew it was "The Giving Tree" ~ and sure enough, it was and, it was only 50 cents! I hurried home to read it to Wayne and "sappy" me gets about 3/4 through the book, reading it aloud to Wayne and I started to cry {ridiculous, I know, but I think it comes with age} ~ so, he had to finish the rest of the story, but ended up reading it aloud to me. It's a wonderful story and if you haven't read it, or have never even heard of it, I'll tell it here ~ enjoy:

"The Giving Tree" ~ by Shel Silverstein
Once there was a tree...
and she loved a little boy.
And every day the boy would come
and he would gather her leaves
and make them into crowns and play king of the forest.
He would climb up her trunk
and swing from her branches
and eat apples.
And they would play hide-and-go-seek.
And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade.
And the boy loved the tree...very much.
And the tree was happy.
But time went by.
And the boy grew older.
And the tree was often alone.
Then one day the boy came to the tree
and the tree said, "Come, Boy, come and climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be happy."
"I am too big to climb and play," said the boy.
"I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money. Can you give me some money?"
"I'm sorry," said the tree, "but I have no money. I have only leaves and apples. Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in the city. Then you will have money and you will be happy."
And so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered her apples and carried them away.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time...and the tree was sad.
And then one day the boy came back and the tree shook with joy and she said, "Come, Boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy."
"I am too busy to climb trees," said the boy. "I want a house to keep me warm," he said. "I want a wife and I want children, and so I need a house. Can you give me a house?"
"I have no house," said the tree. "The forest is my house, but you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy."
And so the boy cut off her branches and carried them away to build his house.
And the tree was happy.
But the boy stayed away for a long time. And when he came back, the tree was so happy she could hardly speak. "Come, Boy," she whispered, "come and play."
"I am too old and sad to play," said the boy. "I want a boat that will take me far away from here. Can you give me a boat?"
Cut down my trunk and make a boat," said the tree. "Then you can sail away...and be happy."
And so the boy cut down her trunk and made a boat and sailed away.
And the tree was happy...but not really.
And after a long time the boy came back again.
"I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to give you ~ My apples are gone."
"My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy.
"My branches are gone," said the tree. "You cannot swing on them -"
"I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy.
"My trunk is gone," said the tree. "You cannot climb-"
"I am too tired to climb," said the boy.
"I am sorry," sighed the tree. "I wish that I could give you something...but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry..."
"I don't need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired."
"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy.
~ The End

Enjoy your weekend!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Bartering...who needs money anyway!

It's not that I don't have "courage" {most of the time - well, sometimes} ~ it's just that I'm afraid I may offend someone by asking if they are willing to "trade" some of my jewelry for what they have to offer. So I finally got up the "courage" to ask a lady here in town that teaches Yoga, Pilates, Nia and now Zumba if she would be willing to trade jewelry for classes! And, I'm excited to say, she was so excited {I think even more than me} that I now get to take classes for two whole months, twice a week, with no "out of pocket" expenses {kinda like "free" health insurance}!!! *Yay* ~ and I'm sure after those classes are done, I'll have something else she'll have to have and we can barter some more. I'm stoked!!! Well really, yesterday was my first class and I'm sore! I would have never imagined trading my jewelry for pain! But like the old saying "no pain, no gain" and I've "committed"! So now I'm "bartering" for comments on my blog ~ in exchange for this wonderful little "Peace" bangle:and, of course, all you have to do to win it is comment on this post! Lita will be drawing the lucky winner on Monday {March 2nd} ~ good luck!!!

Happy Wednesday ~ I'm off to fix us some "brunch" and then go on a short hike :)
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others" ~ Samuel Johnson

Monday, February 23, 2009

"Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet"...

And the winner {mouth picked by Ozzy} of the earrings from last Wednesday's post is "Sandy"!!! Congratulations Sandy!!! I hope you enjoy your earrings.Happy "Mardi Gras" everybody!!!! Since I'm one of those "southern girls", known for our hospitality, this whole week {through midnight Friday, February 27th} I'm offering a 25% discount to all of my little blog readers. It's my little Mardi Gras "Lagniappe" for everybody. Now read closely: in order to get the discount, you will need to type in "Mardi Gras" in the comments to seller section at your time of purchase. I'm only giving the discount to my blog readers, so if you don't type in "Mardi Gras", I won't know to give you the discount. And then, when you go to check out, don't actually pay and I'll send you an updated invoice from PayPal. No worries if you accidently pay though, I'll refund the difference back to you promptly. If you have any questions, just send me an e-mail. Ready to start shopping! Just click here to head over to the shop. Wow! I hope you get something you've been wanting, or maybe even something you haven't seen yet:like this awesome little necklace I made yesterday ~ it's called "Goddess of Nature" and it's in the shop, along with these gorgeous earrings:I named them "Stoned Me", just because that's the song that popped in my head when I was listing them this morning. It was a toss up between that and "Rock Me", simply because of this:
it's Wayne and I sitting in the giant rocking chair on Main St. in downtown Mt. View, Arkansas. Jen made me think about it, since she was there over the weekend! Thanks, Jen!!!

Happy "Mardi Gras" everybody!! ""Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet" (Let the good times roll)!!! Be sure and check back here on Wednesday to see what the next give away will be ~
I promise you'll love it!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"To know someone here or there with whom you feel there is an understanding in spite of distances or thoughts unexpressed -- that can make of this earth a garden" ~ Goethe

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My MP3 Player Is Finally Working Again!!!

And this is the little case I got for it about a year ago from "Tinymeat". Of course, he used one of Emily Martin's paintings for the image :) I love it!!! I've been fighting with my MP3 player for three days now and I finally got it working again. I purchased a "Samsung YH-820", instead of an I-Pod a couple of years ago, just because it was a little cheaper & I was feeling like all of the "Apple" stuff was getting crammed down my throat. According to the instructions with my MP3 player, "Napster" was the only music program compatible with the player. That was fine, in the beginning.....now Napster charges $14.95/month just to use their software and copy songs to the MP3 player. Needless to say, I'm not about to "pay" to put songs on my MP3 player using CD's that I already own! So, long story short, I finally found some information late yesterday that said "Real Player" could be used. After I download that software, everything started working great and I actually like "Real Player" much better than the other music players, anyway ~ so there! Now I can listen to all of my 60's music incognito, while I reminisce :)And now that my music is all nice & fresh on my little player, these earrings will be the give away for next Monday {February 23rd}. Of course, all you have to do to win them is comment on this post! Please be sure and check back to see if you won.

Also, starting next Monday {February 23rd}, I'll have a great "Mardi Gras" discount available for the whole week! "Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet" {Let The Good Times Roll} ~

Happy Wednesday!!!
♥ & peace ~ Kathy

"May your hours of reminiscence be filled with days of good cheer & weeks of pleasant memories" ~ unknown

Monday, February 16, 2009

Think good thoughts....

Ah....I finished our taxes today ~ Yay ~ now I can relax, since we don't owe everything we own to the IRS! And tonight is "Music Monday", so we are getting ready to go have some fun. Before we leave though, I had to announce the winner of this week's give away! It's lucky #1, which is Anita! Congratulations Anita!!! Please send me an e-mail and give me your address, so I can send these awesome little earrings your way.I just had to share this gorgeous little necklace I made yesterday ~ it's in the shop, if you want to see more of it!

Thanks for reading my ramblings....be sure and check back this coming Wednesday {February 18th} to see what the next awesome give away will be! I promise you'll love it!

Happy Monday!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

P.S. This quote is for you, Jen ;)

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet simple things of life which are the real ones after all." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day To My Little Cupids!

I just had to share all of my Valentine surprises, since they are so awesome!This wonderful stained glass tissue box holder that Tom made for me ~ he's amazing!This wonderful serving bowl that Tika made! Yes, she's from Louisiana!!!And my favorite of all ~ this gorgeous little table top moss garden from Annie!

We sure have made friends with some amazing people around here! And tonight we are going to the new Italian restaurant that just opened last week. We hear it's really yummy.

I hope cupid was good to you! Happy Valentine's Day!
& peace always ~ Kathy

"Love cures people ~ both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it." ~ Dr. Karl Menninger

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Circle Of Life....

You never realize how some "skills" do actually carry you through life. My favorite classes in High School were "Typing", "English" and "Business Math". Now that I look back, I guess that was a good thing! When I was a Junior in High School I started working for "Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company" in Baton Rouge. I was 16 years old! It was my very first "real job" and I was the "Assistant File Clerk" {that just sounds so freakin important when you say it out loud}. Anyway, that "first job" lasted 20 years! Yes, 20 years!!! When I left I was in the "Policyowners' Service Department" and was in charge of all Annuities, policy loans & historical tracing, which involved payments, withdrawals, correspondence, tax forms, etc. One of the main things was correspondence. Of course, way back eons ago we didn't have computers yet! We had a couple of secretaries and they would type up all of the letters that we dictated through our little dictation machines. It was really time consuming, now that I think about it! Having to dictate all of those letters! And I always had those certain things that I would just put off until the last possible minute and then the opening line of that letter {when I finally got a round to sucking it up and calculating years and years and pages and pages of numbers} would be "We regret the delay in replying to your recent inquiry. Your file was mislaid and has just once again come to our attention" I've told myself that if I ever get a letter from somebody that had that line in it I would call & complain. But after a few years on the dictation machine, computers came along and that's when I really "honed" my skills! I type more that 100 wpm accurately! The letters on my keyboard are nearly non-existent, as I've worn them off over the years. When I have visitors and they use my computer to check e-mails, etc., the first thing they say are "what happended to all the letters on your keyboard". So here's to those "favorite high school subjects" ~ They REALLY do MATTER! And those "first jobs" ~ you never know what you may learn that will carry you through life.So this week's give away are these awesome little earrings that are named "Will It Go Round In Circles", because yes my dears, it will! And all you have to do to win them is comment on this post! I'll announce the winner on Monday {February 16th}. Good luck!!!

Happy Wednesday!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Memories, important yesterdays, were once todays. Treasure and notice today." ~ Gloria Gaither

Monday, February 9, 2009

Happy Monday & A Winner!!!!

Congratulations Galen!!! You were the lucky winner of the "Bird Girl Journey" necklace from last Wednesday's post! Don't forget to check my blog this coming Wednesday {February 11th} for a chance to win another awesome little treat! These are some awesome little earrings that I made yesterday and listed in the shop. I named them "Juniper Berries" ~ they are really quite lovely & very "Springish". Let me know what you think about them.

I have to cut this post short ~ I'm getting ready for my show tonight @ The Hobnob! Wish me luck!
Happy Monday!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"The three grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~ Thomas Chalmers

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I See Spring!

Yay! I think Spring is just around the bend. I have all of these little "buds" popping up everywhere in my yard. And, today it's going to be 63 degrees ~ time for a little "spring cleaning". I don't know about you, but I need motivation to clean anything. So, yesterday we took the dogs for a walk up the parkway. The great thing about Winter around here is that they shut down the parkway to vehicles. But, you can park @ the entrance and walk, which we did:
There is still plenty of ice up there and, lots of snow. Lita had a blast rolling around in it and she loved running right up to the edge of the grass and taking a big "sniff" of the mountain air:It was gorgeous up there. I want to go back today! But it's not all "play" around here. I made this awesome little necklace for one of my customers yesterday and I love the way he turned out. You just can't help but smile when you look at his happy little face:So until we meet again....Happy Trails.......be sure & check back Monday to see who the lucky winner of the "Bird Girl Journey" necklace is! And, if you haven't already, be sure and comment on that post for your chance to be in the drawing! Good luck & have a wonderful weekend!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Sometimes our thoughts turn back toward a corner in a forest, or the end of a bank, or an orchard powdered with flowers, seen but a single time...a feeling we have just rubbed elbows with happiness" ~ Guy De Maupassant

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Friends {Old & New} and A "Freebie"

One of the things that I pride myself on is my list of friends {old & new}. Yesterday we went to dinner & a movie with our "new" friends, Tom & Sandi. We went to see "Taken", which was not as good as we thought it was going to be. It's just your typical "shoot em up, car chase thriller", with a totally predictable ending. The non-stop action just made my adrenaline pump way to high which, in turn, caused me to eat more that I should have at "P.F. Changs" {that's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking to it}. Ah, but just getting out and doing something was certainly with the trouble. We had a great time.

But the one thing about "old" friends is that you can always pick up the phone, or send them an e-mail and it's like you never missed a beat. One of my dearest and oldest {time, not age} friends is Christine {Chris}. We've been friends since high school and we were room-mates for a couple of years in the early 80's in Louisiana. In our mid 20's she and her family headed back to southern California, where she still lives today with her husband & two "furry" kids. She flew down here last summer for a week and we really enjoyed her visit and hope she comes back soon:hee hee ~ here she is with her little Bug!!! She {we} drove that car into the ground. I remember there was a "tricky" way to start it, which involved a screwdriver?!? {I think}. Maybe she'll post a comment on this blog to refresh my memory! And boy what memories we have! I know I don't have enough space on "blogger" to even start on those stories!

So, today's blog give away, in honor of those friends near & far, old & new, and to those yet to be met, is one of my best seller's ever. My little "Bird Girl Journey" necklace:She is being enjoyed by people all over the world! Of course, all you have to do to win her is comment on this post. I'll announce the lucky winner on Monday {February 9th}, which is also the day I'll be having a "Valentine Jewelry Trunk Show", along with another one of my special little girlfriends, Paula. We'll be setting up @ "The Hobnob" from 6 to 9ish pm. Please come see us, if you can.

Wayne {my best friend & soul mate} and I are going to ride up to the Parkway today and check out the snow!
Happy Wednesday!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"The gift of friendship ~ both given and received ~ is joy, love, and nurturing for the heart. The realization that you have met a soul mate...a kindred spirit...a sister...a true friend...is one of life's sweetest gifts!" ~ unknown

Monday, February 2, 2009

It's Almost Valentine's Day!!!

And a great one it will be. I love Valentine's Day! I just shipped off a few little surprises to my Mom & Sister this morning that Paula made for me. These little hearts are just awesome and, make the loveliest of gifts:She even personalizes each one with whatever message you desire. I love them! Speaking of "gifts" Katie is the winner of my awesome little mirror & bottle opener from last week's post! Congratulations, Katie!!! Don't forget to check my post this Wednesday {Feb. 4th} for a chance to win another great little prize!And I just had to share this awesome find I found yesterday on Etsy! Isn't it the coolest!!! I posted it, just in case somebody was looking for a "hint" for something that I wanted for Valentine's Day! I love it!

I'm off to the grocery store to get a few things before the rains come.
Happy Monday!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Worthy things happen to the worthy." ~ Plautus