Cultural studies...

I was enjoying Gretchen's final blog post about her 7 week visit to Mumbai. She talked about the Dharavi slums that she was able to tour. I wanted to learn more, so I found a YouTube documentary about it. There are two episodes. Kevin McCloud spent a couple of weeks living among the people of the slum and it is quite an eye opening experience. Extremely squalid and gross, but the people are quite inspiring. YouTube is so great for finding out more about other people and cultures!


 In my quest for better health I discovered that I may be sensitive to MSG. I got a flushed face and little itchy spots after eating a salad with Ranch dressing. This particular Ranch dressing contained MSG. So, after getting rid of that and checking for MSG in other foods I've been doing pretty well. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of all my Campbell's Chunky Soups! I guess MSG is what makes things tasty! As it turns out, a diet of clean, unprocessed, natural foods is the best thing to avoid problems. Who knew? LOL. I guess there's no getting around it!

 I've been taking my ATC swaps one at a time and trying to enjoy doing art more. Here are my latest for a Cat swap.

 My dear daughter-in-law, Brooke, is launching a little business selling jewelry made by artisans from third world countries. It's not a big money maker, but instead, she's doing it to help these artisans to make a better living. I'm browsing around her site and will buy one or two things to be supportive. I really don't wear jewelry, but I keep hoping I might. :) If you'd like to look around I'll put a link here.
Brooke Richards-Noonday Collection 

At first the items may seem expensive, but they are handmade which is a labor intensive process. Besides helping these artisans, Brooke also works as a substitute ESL teacher for immigrants through Catholic Charities Diocese of Ft. Worth and as a grant writer for a non-profit out of Oregon. She really loves to do things to help people. I'm proud to be her mom-in-law!

My next foray into the culture of India will be to watch the movie "The Lunchbox". Looks intriguing! It can be rented through YouTube (and probably Amazon) for $2.99.

Time for bed! Thanks for tuning in, and see you next time!
Shalom!

Glennnnn!

My daughter-in-law, Brooke, just posted this Vimeo video of their wedding in June. I was so excited to see this! So, for my Daddy Glenn and brother, Mark, here's a little taste of their wedding. Spoiler alert: it's mushy! Ha ha!

The Wedding of the Century

That's all I had for now. I just had to share!
Love y'all! Shalom!

A diagnosis!

Hi, you guys and y'all!

So, you've had nearly 4 days with nary a mention of health related issues. Woo hoo! I just wanted to post something here in case any of you have experience with it. I finally called my doctor about the blood tests and ultrasound. It's been two weeks and I hadn't heard a peep. SO, he looked up my results and it seems my blood and urine tests showed all is well. The ultrasound showed that I have a renal cyst. My doctor sounded like a renal cyst is no big deal unless it really starts to bother me. In that case he can stick a needle in it and drain it. It sounds like that involves poking a hole in me? So, I'll just keep on keeping on. Have any of you had this condition? If so, please share your experiences in the comments. Thanks! Do I need to look for another doctor, or is it SOP to not call with results? I'm going to Google for info, but you never know what you'll get that way!

Otherwise, I got a visit from one of the ladies from my church with a Valentine card and a vase of flowers. We had a good visit. Another lady is coming tomorrow. I guess I'm on the "widows to visit" list. They are very kind. It's just a little awkward for awkward little me. But I need to practice sociability a little more often. ;)

Here's my latest ATC.

 Micah's younger sister-in-law and her husband and two boys are moving back to the area from New York state. They will move in with her dad while her hubby ships out to Afghanistan for nine months. She's planning to get a job, so Micah volunteered to watch her two boys (for pay; so not really volunteering) which should make things pretty exciting for her. If it's too much she will just make other arrangements, but it's a chance for Micah to earn some money, and she really likes kids. I don't know where she gets her fearlessness...

That's all the news for now. I'm following MK's kitchen remodel with great interest. I'll check up on everybody.

Sayonara and shalom!

An interesting Irish tale...

I've watched several videos about this lady. This particular video seems to be the most recent, but it's very short and doesn't give a lot of details. I'll link another video under it if you want to see more about her history in this house. I thought she was fascinating!



More about Margaret here.

That's all I have for now. Just wanted to share! :)
Shalom and have a great weekend!

Book sale haul...

Yup, book sale time again!
I was determined to exercise some self-control today. I did manage to buy less than usual, but I shopped among the slightly more expensive books instead of the 10 cent room. (Hardbacks 50 cents; paperback 25 cents; children's books 10 cents.) I got some bios, some literature and some children's books. (Some of those children's books are really art inspiration for me!)

I've read The Pilgrim's Progress a couple of times, but it's been a while. I've always wanted to try The Inferno.

I couldn't leave that little BP book behind! The other little book has pretty miniature paintings in it which I thought might work for collages.

For some reason I'm a fan of Skippyjon, the cat who thinks he's a chihuahua, lol. Audrey might like the nature stories and I'll read it, too!

I like stories of lady shepherds. Vicarious farm-work.

The Greece travel guide has lots of pretty pictures, once again for collage. The other book I've wanted to read for a while.

Grandkid books. (After Grandma admires the pictures.)

I think Audrey will enjoy these. She gobbles down information!

These are for me. Lots of cool artwork!

I read The Gulag Archipelago when I was a teenager, so I thought this might be good, too.

I'm doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge, so I can't complain about having nothing to read. My current book is The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen.

Yes, she's the same author I was complaining about for using sentences from Austen and Bronte books. She does a lot less of that here, though I did notice such surnames as Elliot and Willoughby. I have to admit she's done a fair amount of research, and this one is interesting. She's a Christian author, so the romance angle is refreshingly innocent.

That's all my news for now. Thanks for coming to visit!
Have a cozy evening!
Shalom.

Finished ATC's...

Just a quick drive-by post to put up pics of my finished cards. :)

No call from the doctor yet. I hope Nana Diana is right that that could be an indication that nothing really big is going on. I'm feeling pretty good.

I had a good visit with my old deli pals this morning. I'm so glad we've decided to keep in touch with each other. I really do miss their faces! We're sort of like a Band of Sisters. We've been in the trenches together for many years, lol. We're going to do a Secret Pal thing where we draw a name and send little gifts and notes, etc. to our pal throughout the year. Then we'll exchange gifts and reveal who our pal is at Christmas each year. This is a good bunch of gals! Thank you, Lord, for old friends.

I'm thankful for all of you blogging friends, too! I really enjoy keeping up with your lives!

God bless, hugs and shalom!

Bits and bobs...

Micah took this sweet picture of Adele the other day. She said she used an app on her phone to make it black and white. I think it's so cute. They were having breakfast together after taking the big sisters to school.

The "deli gals" monthly breakfast is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to it! My doctor should also call me about my ultrasound results. I hope the two events don't interfere with one another. My brother was asking after my health and asked on a scale of 1-10 how much pain was I feeling. I'd say a "one". It really doesn't hurt much. Just the occasional dull twinge. But it just shouldn't be going on in that same spot for two weeks. But, I guess I'll see what he thinks in the next day or two.

I'm not a Super Bowl watcher, so I've been doing some drawing for an ATC swap. This particular swap is "open theme", meaning we can make the cards on any subject. His only requirement is that one card is of a NON-anime, NON-Disney cartoon character. So, I did all cartoon characters. These are some of my favorite characters from my kids' childhood. I only have them drawn. I'll paint them in the next little while. (I like to take a picture at this point in case I mess up when I paint them, lol.)

I finished The Ladies of Ivy Cottage and gently lambasted the author in my review. ;)

"In her author's notes at the end of The Ladies of Ivy Cottage, Julie Klassen says, 'I have attempted to honor a favorite author or two with fond nods to her work.' She refers to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. (Were there more?) I must admit that I was a little annoyed to find her pretty much lifting whole conversations and characters from these books. Did she step over the boundary line into plagiarism? I remember having my grade docked once in college for doing something much less obvious.

Having said that, I did finally get into the book, despite the occasional flare up of irritation each time she inserted another familiar sentence...or two. I came to care about the characters and wanted to see what would become of them. Dash it all! I'm looking forward to Book 3 in the series. There are a couple of characters whose lives are still dangling in mid-air." :)

I did give it four stars.

I think more reading is in order this evening. I threw my back out this morning! Micah said, "Gee, Ma! You can't catch a break!" Ha ha!

I hope your favorite team wins!
God bless and shalom!