Fragmented Friday Zombie Edition

Today's Fragmented Friday post is a look into my zombie like numb state. If you manage to stick with me through this ramble, thank you in advance. If not that's okay, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Over the last few years my oldest son, who is quite a caricature, has given me many tips on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. For the life of me I can't remember a single thing he said. I really should have listened to him for now I feel like I am becoming a zombie. In fact during the past month I am sure I have spent more time playing Plants -v- Zombies than any sane human should. If you wish to numb your brain and have never played it I highly recommend giving it a try.
 

One thing that has played a major part in turning me into a zombie has been my attempt to take stock of; myself, my future and my business. It seems that every time I try to think and focus on these three topics one thought fills my mind. Where is my niche?

Merriam Webster dictionary defines niche as:

• a : a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted <finally found her niche>
  b : a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species
  c : the ecological role of an organism in a community especially in regard to food consumption
  d : a specialized market.

So here I sit trying to figure out how to carve out a new niche for myself, a big part of which requires that I find the perfect niche for my business/employment. I could easily turn this entire post into one in which I explore this subject, however then it wouldn't be fragmented so on to less stressful topics.

Friends

In just over a month we will be making another major move. My SIL has been transferred to Rapid City, SD where he will spend three years recruiting for the US Navy. So in addition to packing and all that goes with a major move we have been enjoying time with friends.

Family 

One thing I will really miss is all the mischief and fun the kids have when my granddaughter Ba(little fish) comes to spend the weekend.  She was with us last weekend and the three kids built this huge tent in the living room.

Fingernails

One of the perks of living with my oldest daughter is that I don't have to mess with painting my own fingernails. She does it for me with some pretty cool designs.

Surprises 

Today we got a big surprise when we were out back and heard baby kittens mewing. The mother cat had made a nest for her babies in an old cardboard box that had been left in the fenced enclosure that holds our garbage can. 

Parting Thought

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Homemade Bacon Onion Soup

Yesterday my tummy was feeling a bit icky, so I decided to make some homemade soup. Of course my first thought was chicken noodle but the only chicken in the freezer had frostbite. After looking through the refrigerator and freezer for likely ingredients I opted to make onion soup with some bacon for added flavor. Not sure how smart it was to make it a spicy bacon and onion soup, but it sure tasted good.

3 cups water

 1/3 thin sliced large yellow onion

10 petite carrots, coin sliced

1/4 cup chopped leafy celery tops

3 slices fried bacon

1 packet condensed chicken broth

a couple dashes of red pepper flakes

a pinch of rosemary

and the following spices to taste:

salt

cayenne pepper

garlic

oragano

sage

 Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour.

I have to warn you though that reheating the leftovers is just like when you make salsa it is hotter the longer it sits.

Word of the Day: Family

 Happy Sunday Everyone!

I am glad to be participating this week in Ashley Sisks' Scavenger Hunt Sunday. 

So with no further ado here is what I found.

The #5
Sissy giving me a high five.

Word of the Day: Family
My Brother in law shared this photo with me of my late husbands mother, grandmother and great-grandparents. 

Sharing:
In our family we share the responsibility for cooking dinner. Tonight was Mr. G's night and he decided to cook us a big Southern style breakfast. YUMMMM!

Wiggle:
Bubba is wiggling his latest loose tooth.

Cookies:

A while back eight year old Sissy made some imaginary strawberry chocolate chip cookies and it sounded so good Mrs. G decided to alter a cookie recipe and make strawberry chocolate chip cookies adding a cup of diced fresh strawberries to the recipe. Talk about moist delicious cookies. This has become a favorite around our house so she made some more today.

Reflections of February

It has been some time since I joined in the fun at Jame's Weekend Reflection so here we go a couple of reflections and a poem to go with them.

Reflections of February

Rain drops cling 

as the cold winds blow.

A joyful heart stills

abandoned and lonely

to a cold winter day.

A golden sun rises
as the wish flower sways.
A joyful heart sings

as green foliage appears,
Springs promise is near.

A. Davis (c)2013

 

 

I took these photos of my granddaughters forgotten hula-hoop in February. For me they captured the essence of February, cold, wet and dreary with a touch of the promise of spring.

 

Now that February is behind us, let a joyful spring commence!

For other great reflections please remember to drop by

Jame's Weekend Reflection

Lesson From The Pet Rock

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard 'you're so talented', maybe then I wouldn't always worry about my ability to earn enough to support myself. I have come to the conclusion that it isn't so much how talented one is as much as it is who one knows and how much of the right exposure one gets.

So many times I have walked into an art gallery and seen abstract and contemporary art that looks more like my third grade granddaughter was turned loose in the garage and told to make something than it does a creation of a talented artist.

It is not that I don't like or even appreciate contemporary and abstract art, for I do! There have been many pieces that I have loved, but then there have been just as many that I walked away discouraged and confused because it was selling for hundreds even thousands of dollars and really it didn't seem to have any thought or skill that went into its creation.

I've often walked away thinking, if they can sell that why am I struggling to survive. Obviously they had already learned the lesson from the Pet Rock. 

What is this all important lesson I speak of? It is the fact that it is not so much what you create as it is who you know that determines how successful sales of your creation will be.

You see Gary Dahl the inventor of the Pet Rock, became a millionaire through sales of his Pet Rocks. Although the pet rock was marketed as a substitute for a dog or cat and not art the theory is the same. His idea (creation) may never have gotten a second glance if he hadn't know someone that helped him develop and implement the fantastic marketing strategy that skyrocketed sales, making Dahl a multimillionaire in just six months. His marketing strategy flooded the media with this humorous product creating wide exposure throughout the United States in just a short period of time. Through his contacts he was able to get the exposure needed to catapult sales of this seemingly inauspicious product in a short period of time to record highs and thus a legend was born.

Like Dahl, these artists whose works leave me dumbfound obviously KNOW someone. They put themselves out there and met the RIGHT people. They met the gallery owners, the shop owners and the art advocates. They made those all important connections and through them they obtained the right exposure. Or, they paid high booth fees for exposure in the right fairs, at the right time, with the right customer base.

It may have taken me a long time, I will admit it, I thought the Pet Rock was dumb at the time so gave it very little thought. But I have finally learned the lesson. It is time to put myself out there and meet the RIGHT people, make the RIGHT connections and get the RIGHT exposure.

So if your art sales are lagging and you find yourself wonder why, ask yourself if you have learned the lesson of the Pet Rock. Do you know the right people? Are you getting the right exposure? If not it is time to step outside the comfort zone.

How to make your own stick puppet theater

Last Thursday Bubba and Sissy were bored so I decided it was a good time for a fun project. Gathering the supplies the kids and I decided to make some stick puppets and a theater. We made the stage and about 30 different stick puppets. The whole process took us about an hour.

Afterwards I decided a video showing how we had made the puppet theater and a short video of the kids playing with their new toy would be a fun post here. Amazingly enough it took me much longer to get the video's shot and pictures taken so that I could get this post on the blog.

Now that I have made my first How To video I can honestly say it is most likely to be my last. It is a good thing I never had dreams of becoming an actress. I was going to edit out the really goofy beginning but decided to let you all see just how crazy I am. So here it is in its unedited glory.

Thankfully Sissy has no qualms about appearing in a video. Here she is was a clipped version of her puppet theater production.

Originally this post was intended for a Fragmented Friday post, but Friday came and went so I thought hey okay I will share it on Sunday in my City.  Sunday came and I still didn't have the video recorded. I finally convinced Mrs. G to video tape me today and thankfully Claudya of Unknown Mami fame keeps her wonderful blog party Sunday In My City open till mid week so I am linking up with her and hope you will drop by and check out what others are doing in their cities.

Spam Free Zone

Due to a large amount of spam, I have changed the settings to only accept comments from registered users. I do greatly appreciate all legitimate comments and hope this will not be too inconvenient. I created the following image to place on all my blogs. Feel free to use it if you wish.

P.S.  I am pretty sure anyone that is either signed into G-mail, blogger or Open-ID will be able to comment.