Awards!

Hello Y’all! Can you believe it? The gorgeous and wonderfully talented Marina Capano (Argentina TV Star!) of Only Cute Things has awarded me two, TWO!, Blog Awards! How sweet is that? I’m not sure I really qualify since I haven’t posted much lately, but, hey – I’m flattered and excited about it so thank you so much Marina! Here goes . . .

The rules for receiving this award are:

1) Put the logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on yours.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Now I have the honor of selecting some other inspirational and talented artists to pass this award along to.
I will begin with the most inspiring and beautiful blog I have ever had the pleasure to frequent:

M. Kate of La Vie Est Belle

and then on to one of the most creative, talented, and generous women in the world:

Vicki C of This Art That Makes Me Happy

and I mustn’t forget the creative and intuitive writings of:

Ro of Life Muses by Ro

or the decorating and gardening diva:

Donna Lynn of Blushing Rose Antiques

And the supreme designing talent of sweet:

Kara W of My Studio Pink

and, of course, the Digital Designing Queen herself:

Flergs (Megan) of Flergalicious

who could leave out the multi talented artist:

Laurie of Laurie’s Charming Designs

and last but certainly far from least is the ever entertaining as well as talented:

Rachel of A Romantic Porch!

Each and every one of you ladies has made my life better for knowing you and I appreciate your talent and friendship. So many times in the last few months, you have made my way in life easier and more pleasant so I feel you deserve both of these awards. So take a bow you Cyber Princesses!

Love,
Liv

Tagged Again!

Being tagged seems to be going around again. Ms. Vicki C got me again so I have to come up with 7 weird things about me (which shouldn't be at all hard to do) and then see if I can come up with 7 lovely people to tag and link to.
Hmm . . . let's see.

1. I love tv shows and movies about outer space and inner space. i.e., Galactica, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek Voyager, Stargate, Stargate Atlantis, CSI (all), Grey's Anatomy, ER. I really love watching television.

2. Before I got old and decrepit, I did all the plumbing, carpentry, and electrical repairs around the house. I once built a shed that I designed and drafted the plans for.

3. The kids in my neighborhood in Virginia called me the 'bird lady' because my yard and trees stayed full of birdies and when I went outside and whistled they came flocking down to me. My backyard was strictly for the wildlife.4. I love flip flops and crocs; I have 32 pair of flip flops! Also my feet are too small; I wear a child's 3 or Women's 4.
5. I am uncomfortable in clothing, especially underwear, that has thick seams and I will wear them inside out if I'm staying at home! LOL!

6. My Mom grew up in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and one of her playmates was Billy Graham. (not weird, just interesting?) A few years back, I visited the area and found the church where my grandmother was buried about 80 years ago!

7. When I was a child, my brother and I would go to the creek and catch tadpoles so we could watch them grow into frogs (me too, Vicki!); we loved to catch lightening bugs (fire flies) on hot summer nights and pull off their tails and stick them all over our bodies so we would "glow" in the dark! This seems very cruel to me now, but back then a lightening bug necklace was very cool indeed; we also caught June bugs and tied a thread to one of their hind legs and let them fly around and around our heads while we pretended to be helicopters! Really, y'all, there wasn't any TV so we had to amuse ourselves somehow!

Now, who to tag?

The lovely Donna Lynn, Blushing Rose Antiques, who is not only a mom to men of stature but is really a southern belle at heart (even if she doesn't know it!).

Ms. Kara Ward, My Studio Pink, who is a designing queen, super mom, and all around diva!

The totally fabulous, talented, and beautiful Megan Farrow, Flergalicious, (aka Flergs the digi designing queen).

The adorable, talented, and sweet Ms. Deb S, Union Street Musings, who is a good friend to have around when your ego needs stroking!

Ms. Laurie of Charming Designs who has the market cornered on little lovelies that pull on your heart strings.

The oh so capable renovating diva, Rachel of the Romantic Porch.

And last, but not least, Marina Capano of Only Cute Things, decorative artist, decorator, TV star, sweet friend, and mother.

Well, ladies, please play along with the rest of us. You must list 7 little known facts about yourself, link back to me as the tagger, then choose seven people to tag, list their names and link to their blogs and notify them that they've been tagged. Okay, so perhaps this is the last time I get tagged? I don't know if I want to reveal anymore weird facts about myself! Y'all have a great weekend!

Tootles!

When It Rains, The Lightening Strikes!

Hey Y'all! More trouble on the ole' homefront, of course! We had a powerful electrical storm in these parts last December and one of our Hickory trees was struck by lightening. After about a month, it looked like it might just survive the beating it took. But, alas, no go! It's as dead as the proverbial door knob and we have got to have it removed. It sits just inside our property line but it is a danger to our neighbor's home so it's bite the bullet time again.

I 'm beginning to wonder if we need to take out a second mortgage to pay for all the problems that are cropping up around here. There are two more trees that are a danger to us too so the price tag for removing all of them is close to $1000! This Elm was damaged and bent permanently over by a rare ice storm:

Our insurance will pay to have a tree replaced but not it's removal. Hmmm, this seems kind of backwards, but, hey, my world has been kind of backwards lately.

The beautiful, talented, and pesky(!) Kara is leaving on a much needed mini-vacation, tomorrow morning so let's all wish her Bon Voyage! and pray for the family's happiness and safe return. Check out Kara's post of yesterday and you'll understand why I call her 'pesky!'

I found the photos of some of my animals in Virginia, so I will scan them and post as soon as possible. I'm not at my best in them but I was a heck of a lot younger than I am now! We have a lot of wildlife, other than gray squirrels, around our North Carolina home too. There are Red Fox, Barn Owls, Blue Herons, White Egrets, Canada Geese, Green Herons, Cotton-tailed Rabbits, loads of song birds, hawks, snakes, lizards, muskrats, Canvas-backed Ducks, Mergansers, Swans (imported), White-tailed Deer, raccoon, opossum, tortoise, turtles, and many others we probably don't know about!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful and happy May Day!

Tootles!

The Nerve of Some People!

Like this wall hanging? This wonderful photo was sent to me by my EX-friend, Kara Ward! And that was after I sent her one of the sweet and gushy notes I am known for (LOL)! Don't you think I get enough abuse from the live critters, Kara? Now what do you think of this young lady sending this to your tired, old, friend Liv? All together now: pppphhhhhhggggggttttt!


Actually, it gave me quite the laugh! It's nice when others help you laugh at yourself-breaks up that tension at the back of the neck. The truth is that I have always loved squirrels, and they me. When I lived in Virginia, I had squirrels coming at me from every direction! I fed them and they would all wait in the front yard for me to get home and then mob me when I got out of the car! I also had Blue Jays that would scout for them by sitting up at the front of our neighborhood then fly in front of my car leading the way back home, screeching at the top of their little lungs. Yes, just call me Cinderella! I have photos of my little menagerie. Maybe I should share them? I'll have to dig them out of those old photos books that have never been digitized.

Here is the challenge layout that I did for Jessica Sprague's Spraground:

Cutest Kids In The Whole Wide World (Spraground Challenge using Meredith Fenwick) Papers: Meredith Fenwick - Polka, blue, green, and pink (recolored); Alpha: Meredith Fenwick Transparent (love them!); Puzzle tray title: Maya's Digital Elements @ Scrapbook Graphics; Font: Angelina, downloaded from Internet; Software: Photoshop CS3

We were required to use some papers and elements that the wonderful Meredith Fenwick donated for the project which included the papers you see and those wonderful clear alpha. Since I was showcasing her designs I made the layout simple. Those are my four grandchildren in August 2000.

Any way, I hope y'all are all having a wonderful Sunday and if you have the time you might want to check out a memorial to my Uncle Wilber that has been posted on You Tube by my Cousin Kent and his wife Deanie; it last about 6 minutes.

Tootles!