New Desk Paint Party Friday

 Paint Party Friday

Show your face Friday

29 Faces of September

Balzer Designs

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Digitally color edited Colour Freak!

 You know what a winded blogger I am...well
 I lost my  whole post in one fail sweep with no
 way to recover it! Here I am rewriting it....
asking myself the question,
" What am I to learn from this?" 

The kids went to Weird Al this week and loved it so much. Beardo faded into the green screen! It was the first concert I took cupcake to when she was little!

The quick answer, because this now has to be a quickie is, 
"too much talking!"

That has always been my problem,
 blogging is no different!! Instead of sharing 

  the wonderful details about  my new desk
 that took a LONG time in the making

I will present it and leave it at that!
 Quietly praising my son in law in private!

Weird Als many costume changes!!

After all who wants to hear a bunch of my mush about my son in law 

once again. Even if he highly deserves it! Instead I will weep gently 

over what is lost and move on! Much like I have done most of my life! 

Consider this one of my quickest posts ever! Meanwhile the new

 mouse is going in the garbage since I have wrestled with it the

 whole day as it kept taking me back to the dashboard mid sentence! 

 I gladly resort to my old taped up one that I was so tenaciously 

teased about a few days ago!

Here is my gorgeous wrap around desk designed by Beardo!

All cords, printers, papers and the tower hidden from sight!

It boasts a nice deep drawer for my crap  accessories!

A few shallow drawers for Cupcakes crap sewing supplies!

Click on the photos for a more up close and personal perspective!!

Feast your eyes on the  pristine newness of this space! Goodness 
knows  how long that will last! The walls once filled with art are 
staying clear for the moment while I regroup and enjoy!

There is junk in all the other rooms that once shared this space!! 

I'm giving it an eviction notice since it hasn't been earning it's keep!

 I have been so joyful in my new space the last few days!  Pretty sure cupcake will 

love it too! I am so proud of this great desk that took Beardo all his holidays and

 days off to custom design and create from scratch with so much love! It's perfect! Everything feels ergonomically more comfortable too!

Face #5 colour Freak is the original!

The post that vanished I spoke about our healthy

eating plan where Beardo was the winner shedding

quite a bit of himself. Probably 40 or 50 pounds

but no one weighs them self in this house so

that's a guess·ti·mate. He's always carried his weight well

but seriously he is way smaller for a man six three!

Cupcake lost a few pounds and fits into her old clothes too!

It's not as noticeable on her because she's always pretty slim.

 She gauges her weight on how well her clothes fit not on

pounds anyway, and never has!  She looks and feels

fabulous being comfortable in her clothes!

Face #8 Herbie the Herb hider..... ate so many herbs his face turned green!

I feel I have been eating more than I ever have and haven't 
lost a pound. However Cupcake who is bluntly honest says my
face looks a lot thinner! When there is massive weight to shed 
of course the face is the first to go.... 

 I do not feel one pound lighter...I feel heavier...

Day #7 Lady Blue

For years I used sweet and low in my coffee with creamer....

Beardo weaned me off it replacing it with sugar about a year
and a half ago. Then he gradually cut the sugar back.

  I am happy to  say I now couldn't imagine sugar in my coffee!

 

 For breakfast we all have a blender drink with fruit, chia seeds,

hemps seeds, almonds, almond butter and pumpkin seeds with 

Kale or spinach on occasion. The fruit is varied.

On weekends  we have the drink made with

bananas, cocoa, coconut milk and all the seeds and nuts as

a treat or if we run out of frozen fruit!
 

 We graze on fruit and nuts during the day.

The kids have a salad for lunch no dressing.

The salad has feta cheese, greens, cranraisins, 

seeds, radish, cukes, tomato, sometimes peppers

you name it....

I am usually too full from the morning drink and my 

coffee  and water with a few nuts and fruit inbetween

to actually eat a lunch. 

Instead I will have my salad at dinner!

 

 Dinner is whatever they feel like and usually consist of

loads of yummy summer veggies done in avacado oil.

We've cut out most dairy except cheese and some 

sour cream on occasion.. They have had slurpies all

summer long because of the heat, and pizza on their days off. 

Minimal white flour.... way less meat mostly chicken

less sugar too! We are always full and we don't deprive

ourselves... We needed change that we could incorporate

into a lifestyle! This works for us!

 Beardo has starbucks only once a week now and usually

no longer  a fancy one! Cupcakes acid reflux has improved

and she has been able to add coffee on occasion to her diet. 

No sugar in my tea or coffee   and my tastebuds

have intensified again!  Things with sugar are way too sweet

for me now and I eat more regularly! It's been a wonderful

change that we can all live with! Hopefully it continues

into the winter months!
 

Sometimes change is as good as a rest! 

Have you made any recent changes in your life lately?

Face #6 Ms Perplexed

She started out as an old man with a white beard and morphed into 

a woman with an infinity scarf.....go figure! The powers of art!

What is the last nice thing someone did for you?

Peace begins at home! Paint Party Friday

 Paint Party Friday
I am so late posting because I completely 
changed my subject matter for this week.

This photo doesn't do this painting justice. It's richer and more vibrant in person.

Wednesday a handsome father, husband, son, soldier was 
killed on  parliament hill by a lone gunman. 

 Canadians are a peace loving people, producing many 

creative souls.  A threat to our Government was felt by all!

 Thursday business continued as usual on the hill. 
Not with hateful hearts, but with strength, defiance of fear, 
and heartache for a peaceful country's loss of innocence.

The color on this painting is less vibrant.

Although sad, I feel  prouder today than yesterday
that our Country came together holding " Strong and free" 
Government speeches were  genuinely spoken  
with conviction and a sincere emphasis on gratitude!

Velda has a green face but her color is not accurate..I have no idea why!

 Peace begins at home! 
Outside of a wonderful drive into the 
Valley I find a frenzy on the roads  these days.
 
  I know that life is fast and everyone is in a hurry. However what

 do we teach kids when we don't wave people into a lane,

 or let them go first at a stop sign.  
  Is courtesy a dying art?

There are so many polite and loving artists on
 Paint Party Friday..

 a wonderful example of what 
peace looks like an often chaotic world.

I think to myself how are children suppose to learn kindness,

 manners, courtesy when there are so many overt 

examples of  narcissism, anger, and bullying out there.

  There needs to be more conversations about adult bullying

 before we are able to honestly discuss what happens at a junior level.

More Kindness campaigns like this!  More compassion in schools! 

There are already so many amazing people in the world doing the lions share.

Everyday  courtesies matter!!

 I still see so many everyday rude occurrences.

  I love to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Of course there are unique circumstances,

"A death in the family,  a sick child

or some other crisis..." causing

 people to become oblivious to their actions

....they're excused.

It's the everyday courtesies....like letting traffic in, helping an old person 

who crosses the street and drops her groceries...

No one did.

If our Prime Minister can hug his opponent with conviction
the day after a  parliamentary crisis and 
possible threat to our country.

I think there is hope and room  to  be kinder and
more courteous in our everyday lives. Not just as 
good customer service because we're directed to, but
as thoughtful, kind, loving  human beings by example!

If what we do to others truly comes back to us, doesn't
it makes perfect sense to make every effort to 
always treat people with kindness  and dignity
even if they're being difficult!

" Every Action has a reaction of consequence,"We reap what we sow" 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

And Peace begins at home!

What act of kindness have you received lately that

 affected you one way or another?

Intuition, Paint Party Friday

 Paint Party Friday 

29 Faces of September 2014

Halloween Harriet

With a lack of sleep I feel much like a zombie, so my creative streak  has come to a lull! These were done very last minute. Since May I haven't had as many driving obligations and it really has freed up my time. I've enjoyed the freedom. However Beardo had a business trip this week so I have been driving a bit more. 
 

Marquette Face #29

It's a beautiful time of year so I don't mind, but it cut into my creative energy. I live a creative life and that doesn't always mean waking on demand. So shuttling Beardo to the plane threw me off a bit even though I love doing it for him!! 

I can be a bit of an energy vampire so I rarely speak while my family is packing.    Knowing it can throw a traveler off  and make them forget things. For that reason  I also hate  being disturbed when I pack.
 

Jullien face #27

 However... this time was different. I didn't speak during the process but I checked to make sure Beardo had a few extra things as a precaution. He was headed to Toronto  where my brother was stranded for nine days during Nine Eleven. 

Mandarin Orange Monday

I was a bit more of a Mother hen than normal. Not a crazy cluck cluck cluck mother hen, maybe more of a nervous Nelly! He's been there a few times before and I've not had a second thought. I assured him if his trip got cancelled, which he was worried it may,  maybe it wasn't meant to be. 

Harriet Face #28

During wartime my dad was in the air force, bumped off a plane by an officer, and the plane crashed. He always felt fortunate it wasn't his time to go.  I'm kind of glad too since I wouldn't be here!

After I dropped Beardo at the airport I decided to slip back into bed. I tossed and turned unable to sleep... eventually I passed out. An hour and half later I got a call. 
Since I was so sleep deprived I  squeezed into my pillow and let it ring without checking who called.  A few minutes later the phone rang again and I knew I had to answer it.

 It was Cupcake.....she started with a positive....the flight was good, he safe but his taxi was just rear ended! She was a basket case not knowing if he was okay.

He was communicating with her when the car was hit. They took him by ambulance to be checked out. They had to remove the seat from the taxi to recover his luggage which was thankfully only a carry on.  He spent the next five hours on a spinal board.Thankfully nothing was broken and he was released and told to take ibprophen since he'd be in pain the next day. We won't know until he arrives home how he is.

I was glad he had all the little extras, extra phone time and money, a bit of food to munch on since he hadn't eaten in since the wee hours. I will sleep better tonight knowing he's back home under our roof. I can only hope he doesn't suffer too much in the coming days!!

I normally give him a big hug before he leaves on a trip. This time we were way too rushed dropping him off so Cupcake hugged him extra long for me!! Now I know why I was so upset that I didn't hug him!

 Have you ever regretted not hugging someone or 
telling them how much you care

 then had something scary happened?

We always say," I love you," thankfully I did and he knew that!

Have you ever had an intuition but didn't quite understand until later?

Paint Party Friday Banana Bread

 This is my contribution to paint party friday and art everyday month!I have been     creative everyday although this is all I can share as I'm doing a project for a friend.

Monday I reminded Beardo  to take his co-worker Banana Bread since  his cousin was being laid to rest after a sudden motorcycle accident last week. Like mother, like daughter Cupcake reminded him too!  Us girls felt so sad for this young mans loss. 

 This year a few of Beardos close knit coworkers have had recent break ups, so we sent  goody bags to work with a banana bread for the boys. Someone is sick, they get a banana bread. It's our way of saying feel better soon, our heart is with you! We give it away as a "thank-you" or a "just thinking of you!"  I have been making this recipe for 35 years. Everyone loves it so much.  I 've made it as Christmas gifts when money was tight, I have taken it as house warming gifts. It was always raved about, requested and enjoyed!

The last few years I passed the torch and now Cupcake makes all the banana bread sometimes Beardo does too!!  It is revered just as much as mine was, always with rave reviews! The last year Cupcake has shared the recipe with an out of towner and a few people she doesn't see often!

  Her hairdresser made it with healthier alternatives. It didn't bode well.  Her husband   complained it wasn't as good as  Cupcakes! Another girl was disappointed that  hers didn't taste the same when she made it.  Beardos female Coworker also complained that hers just didn't taste the same as Cupcakes either! So he teased her that she was missing the secret ingredient !! She begged him to tell her what the secret ingredient was!! He strung her along, giggling that he just couldn't tell her. So she text-ed Cupcake for the secret ingredient!! Cupcake, totally perplexed, asked her what she was talking about.... The woman persisted, begging to know the secret ingredient!! There were no missing ingredients when Cupcake gave her the recipe!! However there is something we always do. We make it with very ripe bananas, and love!! I'm posting the recipe for you to try, but don't forget the secret ingredient, LOVE!!

 I saw a cute gift idea where an artist painted a small canvas then added a favourite recipe. Do you have a favorite recipe you make that you share or don't share with others?