tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68821764166590828502024-03-13T09:57:57.750-07:00PaperTurtleSharing my love of paper, food, fabric, nature, yarn, yoga, stories, and little bits of random.Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.comBlogger1514125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-39937152806784859782016-08-10T06:02:00.002-07:002016-08-10T06:02:32.714-07:00The end of an era, and the beginning of something new<div style="text-align: center;">
To everything, there is a season.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWiLS6cPYdFWVkphFCV6W1GDJbdMIgJHZujPKwsEFGRLHRx2RiWZ_dbpMClfTw4Mp2SdGlUvLlUYZc28-Wiu1dOCGrgHCqFsN468FErySNHH1C2AY0Rtv3osScnHAIMzSm_5kZNsQeIRA/s1600/IMG_3474+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWiLS6cPYdFWVkphFCV6W1GDJbdMIgJHZujPKwsEFGRLHRx2RiWZ_dbpMClfTw4Mp2SdGlUvLlUYZc28-Wiu1dOCGrgHCqFsN468FErySNHH1C2AY0Rtv3osScnHAIMzSm_5kZNsQeIRA/s640/IMG_3474+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Breaking up is hard to do... It's not you, it's me...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQj-aAfQy9QKUjsYq_p-i-bHa7fu6NQRQ4ip9hoJkXGdNauGPPTERWlW27pHP9QW9DUCjlgOQBgDm773_MTdzhLKdM02CFqgabmjZCj-PI2o_lnHLSaPvhtGdfUi29WSBeoU_2HDRqUik/s1600/IMG_3528+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQj-aAfQy9QKUjsYq_p-i-bHa7fu6NQRQ4ip9hoJkXGdNauGPPTERWlW27pHP9QW9DUCjlgOQBgDm773_MTdzhLKdM02CFqgabmjZCj-PI2o_lnHLSaPvhtGdfUi29WSBeoU_2HDRqUik/s640/IMG_3528+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Oh, friends. I can't even tell you how many times I've written this blog post. I've saved drafts and deleted them, I've written lengthy explanations and brief little farewell posts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrF9qrhWjYQX-cfRV71EP2iqyI5stWRImbhVDvjtGANItkBIgUG-WCXnDdGUCEXJlAveSmYeTF2RQW_rPfgYXRoBab29gVoHlYrcypc21jUDadxF2k4T05gbpGy0FOSv3Gp1LLuYhyLs/s1600/IMG_3535+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrF9qrhWjYQX-cfRV71EP2iqyI5stWRImbhVDvjtGANItkBIgUG-WCXnDdGUCEXJlAveSmYeTF2RQW_rPfgYXRoBab29gVoHlYrcypc21jUDadxF2k4T05gbpGy0FOSv3Gp1LLuYhyLs/s640/IMG_3535+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I even wrote a really long post that I planned to publish yesterday, but here I am re-writing it one more time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq65TAc0m9XWgZ1seCIQB3KI7A3pj2ng5RhHC-AVD0c50VwC5KBcOhYbPuwN6xUUuy29odt-jOStrgTLF2CwO-_Xi41IY1XjwS8mypudDgmTOf93eDK5HvbpNMfw4aUQscwRH6DQdLa4s/s1600/IMG_3588+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq65TAc0m9XWgZ1seCIQB3KI7A3pj2ng5RhHC-AVD0c50VwC5KBcOhYbPuwN6xUUuy29odt-jOStrgTLF2CwO-_Xi41IY1XjwS8mypudDgmTOf93eDK5HvbpNMfw4aUQscwRH6DQdLa4s/s640/IMG_3588+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I have talked about moving away from blogging for a few
years now – closing up shop, no more PaperTurtle, trading morning blogging for
morning yoga… I’ve mentioned it in conversation to my friends and family only
to have them scoff, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I’ll believe it when
I see it”</i> – probably because I’ve threatened to do it so many times.</div>
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I published my first blog post in November 2008. Since then I have published 1,513 posts that have included sewing projects, baking cupcakes, growing
sunflowers, raising turtles, losing my mom, drawing mandalas, teaching yoga and
remodeling houses. For eight years I have shared our day-to-day life, weekend recaps, stories
about my past, contemplating human nature, being vulnerable and speaking from
my heart. For eight years I have been finding my own voice, making new friends, being
inspired and inspiring others. And for eight years I have been photographing and writing about it
all.<br />
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I believe that the success of a blog depends solely on the goals of the blogger. The success is directly tied to the outcomes the blogger hopes to realize. And since I never set out to "gain" anything from keeping this blog in the first place, the benefits have far exceeded anything I could have imagined to begin with. I just know that my focus has changed and there are other things I want to fill my time with and pay attention to.<br />
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When I think of the many ways PaperTurtle has served me, it
feels like an immeasurable personal success! It really has been. And now it’s
time for me to move in a new direction. I will still be writing, but not for
this space. I will still be photographing, but also not for this space. Will I
ever come back here? To PaperTurtle? Will I ever post more photos and/or
stories? I don’t know. I doubt it, but stepping away from an eight-year-way-of-life
is going to be strange. I won’t know until I try it.<br />
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In the meantime, you can “like” my yoga page on Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/myyogafrienddeb/?fref=ts">MyYoga Friend Deb</a>. I post quotes and links to articles/stories there and
eventually, when my yoga blog is up and running, I’ll include links to my new
blog posts there as well. I think I'll even come back here to PaperTurtle and post a link for my yoga blog when I'm ready to fly with that. For photos, you can follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/paperturtle/?hl=en">my photos on Instagram</a>. I’m PaperTurtle in that realm. <br />
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Sigh. So, yeah. That's that. I can hardly believe it myself. Maybe I won't fully believe it until I click that "publish" button and let this post fly. Just thinking about putting this out there gives me a sinking feeling in my belly. Silly as that sounds, I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around closing my beloved PaperTurtle blog. I think this will be a tough habit to break... There's also part of me that feels a little giddy and excited for being able to focus more of my attention on my mandala and yoga path. <br />
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I would like to express my very sincere appreciation to those who
have followed my blog and have continued to read my words. I feel so much gratitude
for everyone who has ever left a lovely comment to validate me, lift me,
inspire me, bless me.</div>
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Looking back over the past eight years, PaperTurtle feels
like such a great accomplishment and precious gift. I’m so very proud of what I’ve done here, and
now I’m excited to do something new.</div>
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Onward and upward, my friends.<br />
With so much love and gratitude,<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">♥ </span>~ Deb</div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-55057150400932178962016-08-03T05:52:00.000-07:002016-08-03T05:52:56.662-07:00Mandalas and scrapbook paper uniteOooooh...I have had this idea in my mind for a while now, and last weekend it worked its way out of my head and out through my hands. I <em>knew</em> there was a reason to save all that scrapbook paper!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDePqHn9evR_lCOfwAzF-bPrXEsYRPB0M6RGh1rkzstj3biM-UiKanVhojjYopK3I5J39A2oTZRZh0sFyqBSZn2VlfqeEucnvSTxe4Y0wPE-0prO08OJ1IlD-o9xATdxfR40EjYnowO5Q/s1600/IMG_3338+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDePqHn9evR_lCOfwAzF-bPrXEsYRPB0M6RGh1rkzstj3biM-UiKanVhojjYopK3I5J39A2oTZRZh0sFyqBSZn2VlfqeEucnvSTxe4Y0wPE-0prO08OJ1IlD-o9xATdxfR40EjYnowO5Q/s640/IMG_3338+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The process was simple, really. I used my compass to draw some circles, then I cut the circles out and arranged them to create the base of my mandala. See the rings in the photo above? I cut those into eight pieces, and then freehand cut the petals. I still have some ink pads in my scrapbook stash, although they're pretty well dried out. The one I used for this piece was just enough to give the edges and tips a little color for added definition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDCUwFNUzQUqILiPQdDjoUZfOVje2ITQMLZFVI0EBizHu2SrPOy1jagvr4I0sl_hdEBG5TP0J-YB1_nab0P3vhpc2b2jscyJU6TB8vvYr_EH8sOwjmTeP-RqpjtQYwuwpsW0YEC4i17U/s1600/IMG_3339+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDCUwFNUzQUqILiPQdDjoUZfOVje2ITQMLZFVI0EBizHu2SrPOy1jagvr4I0sl_hdEBG5TP0J-YB1_nab0P3vhpc2b2jscyJU6TB8vvYr_EH8sOwjmTeP-RqpjtQYwuwpsW0YEC4i17U/s640/IMG_3339+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKTeTd55EWHLb-Tt0FVYAcLDgv3_rEHNXlyh-Zw6d9Gc4gB5v1pqnwsdVHcJJx6YNlRckFWA-hgjqgMsG2ris_FVB8weglhJ4MJLRkPJH4U-LqhChW4Mf-hDNrzaQ5ozq5LifZ7jjlbE/s1600/IMG_3340+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKTeTd55EWHLb-Tt0FVYAcLDgv3_rEHNXlyh-Zw6d9Gc4gB5v1pqnwsdVHcJJx6YNlRckFWA-hgjqgMsG2ris_FVB8weglhJ4MJLRkPJH4U-LqhChW4Mf-hDNrzaQ5ozq5LifZ7jjlbE/s640/IMG_3340+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I glued my pieces to my sketchbook page with a <a href="http://www.joann.com/glue-pen-chisel-tip/6645733.html?gclid=CPDBgp-Ko84CFcNefgod3CQEnw">glue pen</a> and then I doodled...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzx8PR6nw9-NW0aBzFV-T0I-HiNpIU34U4CZ_rGGAqTCu10UYY0I9G3x-EsBtw-SpmD72kCcQkcGwiusSKoE07V5IAIUT0dARzhge2e0l2bMqtnSTF45BtmXAcl2z845PVbksQqweSWE/s1600/IMG_3341+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzx8PR6nw9-NW0aBzFV-T0I-HiNpIU34U4CZ_rGGAqTCu10UYY0I9G3x-EsBtw-SpmD72kCcQkcGwiusSKoE07V5IAIUT0dARzhge2e0l2bMqtnSTF45BtmXAcl2z845PVbksQqweSWE/s640/IMG_3341+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcR1gkwPLvxysd3GVvB-OBEFzQtV9Qf79ww3XR2vpe5jjeTzKkI0U2Zim74xQ-QE2JSGGcstTrufs0nR0WARwiOoYWwoLmoUDaEc1it2I0z1T7QfvTyG0dw06UXU0IcNdIu4j1Ouru6Oo/s1600/IMG_3343+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcR1gkwPLvxysd3GVvB-OBEFzQtV9Qf79ww3XR2vpe5jjeTzKkI0U2Zim74xQ-QE2JSGGcstTrufs0nR0WARwiOoYWwoLmoUDaEc1it2I0z1T7QfvTyG0dw06UXU0IcNdIu4j1Ouru6Oo/s640/IMG_3343+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
I had cut the same size circles from a few different papers, so I created a second one with some of the other shapes I'd already cut out. Here's mandala #2:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr-8kzGXwfximXSCxikKi_JNduh75nbIBf6NZOZs-6r3zO66qOcH8_d9EbVfJGqOwA9sx_KiXgdX-LNjPdBwbiQJ6y3IeeGY9FBs37WOZa2ZjjPaH02yNebzmPAYUcd9ELok-CJ3O1cM/s1600/IMG_3353+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr-8kzGXwfximXSCxikKi_JNduh75nbIBf6NZOZs-6r3zO66qOcH8_d9EbVfJGqOwA9sx_KiXgdX-LNjPdBwbiQJ6y3IeeGY9FBs37WOZa2ZjjPaH02yNebzmPAYUcd9ELok-CJ3O1cM/s640/IMG_3353+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
Same colors, same basic shapes, unique mandala every time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrv81bWzdseOC1Z8-9IL-6_7vnIjms7w7LYf-IDxF7K3hFMKLiYwW_LySPnNg2NFZIuZDj6bcW-rlLmEGP7SLF9L3UgiEsj4Y3hXjp-xRIMZGMhuMMzfl25N2KeBFaXSkPLbXgFbXInJo/s1600/IMG_3354+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrv81bWzdseOC1Z8-9IL-6_7vnIjms7w7LYf-IDxF7K3hFMKLiYwW_LySPnNg2NFZIuZDj6bcW-rlLmEGP7SLF9L3UgiEsj4Y3hXjp-xRIMZGMhuMMzfl25N2KeBFaXSkPLbXgFbXInJo/s640/IMG_3354+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Upside-down photo, but that's ok. I laid down a few lines of doodle but it still needed something.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUIKyym9ThIPewTdbOSakJ6Xqzwy7wK7600ksWZp3TptQA7ejrv7hp_4ON-UOyDK8glDwrhRIIKAkO9xPSdmDcIsecoYyl9Pqy9ETxj_1IUYyZvpeklps84VKkn4-c3vfnvuRB45_G9o/s1600/IMG_3355+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUIKyym9ThIPewTdbOSakJ6Xqzwy7wK7600ksWZp3TptQA7ejrv7hp_4ON-UOyDK8glDwrhRIIKAkO9xPSdmDcIsecoYyl9Pqy9ETxj_1IUYyZvpeklps84VKkn4-c3vfnvuRB45_G9o/s640/IMG_3355+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So I made dots - my go-to-fill-in technique. I used a thicker tipped Sharpie marker and started dotting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IFUsRQyhwzJuu38R3ZK_Bku6SPwyUdjdX_NMentUwwUbWgVuBACzB-zHigpFx42Ot1Nqmn1coohMju588xCWQe2vr4zw9h-lbXbVvzD2gJWB-YvVpC0VV9WErl77z06lV1zx52FXgn0/s1600/IMG_3357+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IFUsRQyhwzJuu38R3ZK_Bku6SPwyUdjdX_NMentUwwUbWgVuBACzB-zHigpFx42Ot1Nqmn1coohMju588xCWQe2vr4zw9h-lbXbVvzD2gJWB-YvVpC0VV9WErl77z06lV1zx52FXgn0/s640/IMG_3357+scrapbook+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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So much fun.</div>
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So soothing and relaxing.</div>
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So many scrapbook papers...</div>
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limitless possibilities for mandalas.</div>
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I'll be with my sketchbook if you need me.</div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-52269499920375096082016-08-01T06:26:00.000-07:002016-08-01T06:26:24.996-07:00Around here this weekend<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey there, blog friends!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Welcome to another exciting weekend recap on PaperTurtle. Our weekend was fairly low key, and I did manage a few photos to share.<br />
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Saturday morning I searched the turtle habitat to see if Rex and Casper were out. They have some favorite hiding places in their habitat and they weren't in any of those spaces. Then I noticed them hanging out under my sunflower sprouts. :o)!!! Made me so happy to see that. They are no doubt enjoying the canopy of shade, and possibly (hopefully) eating bugs from underneath the leaves. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFswXMCNAb_cIsiFagpHRxEMozWtElI6v14m1RcMhFZQxF5tt-OzlFi9ZFxSBFveorx4yyzoFIDg2nytAicLduzljBNhAKJSMQyVplRTh9o4Td0iiTBXOzDCuZe20bbdE0o7jJVZ1N0Ak/s1600/IMG_3300+turtles+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFswXMCNAb_cIsiFagpHRxEMozWtElI6v14m1RcMhFZQxF5tt-OzlFi9ZFxSBFveorx4yyzoFIDg2nytAicLduzljBNhAKJSMQyVplRTh9o4Td0iiTBXOzDCuZe20bbdE0o7jJVZ1N0Ak/s640/IMG_3300+turtles+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
In other pet news, Whiskers Jay was a happy camper this weekend. I drew five mandalas over the course of two days, so he remained perched on the edge of my table...purring and tail swishing...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTC-3qEQ1Y34h1c_hoPPGUpBvgThhCrKmPNjsDaGZ5s7Mmks61nbi3prOvHKlQJiWSvw_LEtLA5tAdlHzvFdkUOgCDUosjzH9yEcE5zloLA-h0jhQZE2IZOA46tmWqS0W6DhTWlY1zgE/s1600/IMG_3332+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTC-3qEQ1Y34h1c_hoPPGUpBvgThhCrKmPNjsDaGZ5s7Mmks61nbi3prOvHKlQJiWSvw_LEtLA5tAdlHzvFdkUOgCDUosjzH9yEcE5zloLA-h0jhQZE2IZOA46tmWqS0W6DhTWlY1zgE/s640/IMG_3332+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I love the simplicity of this mandala. <br />
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Saturday evening - way too hot to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. I took this next photo standing inside our backdoor, dreaming of autumn...<br />
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And then Sunday. I'm down to the part in my yoga teacher training where I'm required to attend a certain number of classes at the studio and journal about them. So I went to two classes yesterday - one that I participated in, and one that I assisted with. Need to finalize my notes today before I forget certain details...<br />
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I spent a little time looking at the hashtag #mandalalove on Instagram this weekend. Oh, the inspiration! I've made some Instagram mandala friends in the process, and I'm going to be using some new shapes in my own mandalas just to keep them interesting for me. The one above was inspired by a mandala artist who uses a lot of triangle points in her work. Something new and different for me. I made a bit of a mess, but in the long run I loved the finished piece. I used watercolor pencils on this one:<br />
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We had some cloud coverage for a while yesterday so it was nice enough to sit on the patio...until the mosquitoes started pestering us. Hot, humid, stormy time of year + Arizona sunsets to compensate.<br />
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And now a new week with pretty much the same ol' routine on the horizon. Work, yoga, work, yoga... I'll take it! <br />
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Keep on keepin' on, my friends.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-76611141604706749682016-07-28T06:06:00.001-07:002016-07-28T06:06:51.923-07:00Where the mandala leads, Part 2In April of last year I wrote <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2015/04/where-mandala-leads.html" target="_blank">a post with this same title</a>, minus the "Part 2." At the time, I was preparing to lead my first mandala yoga workshop and had rented a room from <a href="http://www.innervisionyoga.com/" target="_blank">Inner Vision Yoga</a>, the studio where I practice and also receive my yoga teacher training. I'd always had a feeling I'd be teaching in that room in the studio, and having that come to fruition was such an exciting thing for me! Even if I did have to rent the room and promote the workshop on my own, I was so happy about that.<br />
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Well, I've lead six workshops since then (two held at Inner Vision), and when I contacted Inner Vision Yoga to see about booking a date for my seventh workshop I assumed it would be like before. I'd pick a date that worked for them, I'd pay the fee for room rental and go about my merry way promoting the workshop and taking care of registration.<br />
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Imagine my delight when I received a call from the studio with a request to lead my workshop <em>on their behalf</em>. :o)!!! The studio will promote my workshop, they'll handle all registration and I'll show up with my mandala supplies and lead the workshop. And this time they'll pay me instead of the other way around.<br />
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I cried happy tears after I got the call. My mandalas have been life changing for me in so many ways, and it's such an honor to lead workshops where I can share this simple art form and inspire others with these magical circles. The process is so soothing and lovely.<br />
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The photos in this post show my progress in creating this mandala...</div>
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Sometimes I begin my mandalas using a circle template and the method <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-joy-of-mandalas-tutorial.html" target="_blank">I shared in this tutorial</a>. And sometimes (most often) I use my compass to lay down some circles and just dive right in.<br />
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I drew this mandala with a Sharpie permanent marker, my favorite drawing tool lately. I wanted something that wouldn't bleed when wet because I used watercolor pencils to color this one in.<br />
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It's a lot quicker to color in with these watercolor pencils. The entire area doesn't need to be covered because once you wet the color it moves around as paint would.<br />
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Most fun part: putting the water on and seeing the colors become so vibrant.</div>
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I will gladly continue to follow where the mandala leads me.</div>
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<em>I wonder what's next?!</em> :o)</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
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Local readers can <a href="https://www.wellnessliving.com/rs/catalog-view.html?id_sale=3&k_id=25260" target="_blank">learn more about my upcoming workshop and register by clicking here</a>. </div>
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You can find my <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-joy-of-mandalas-tutorial.html" target="_blank">original mandala tutorial here</a>.</div>
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A <a href="http://carriemorley.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/PaperTurtle-Mandala.pdf" target="_blank">mandala template to print</a> and play with,</div>
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and a <a href="http://myyogafrienddeb.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/PaperTurtleFreeMandala2.pdf" target="_blank">turtle mandala coloring page to print and color</a> here.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-78741977500244950552016-07-25T06:03:00.000-07:002016-07-25T06:03:54.604-07:00Around here this weekend...<div style="text-align: center;">
Good day, blog friends.</div>
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I hope this Monday morning finds you well and happy. I am both. :o) Come in, I'll tell you about our weekend...<br />
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Saturday morning I had breakfast with my sister-in-law, Janet. We each had a mimosa and a yummy meal at The Original Chop Shop in downtown Chandler. SO yummy, and I'm excited to take Doug there sometime. <br />
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Carrie and her beau were out of town for the weekend, so we had her dog, Marcus, in the mix of our resident fur balls. Marcus and Lucky are great friends. The cat? Not so much. This next shot was at feeding time for the cat...all hands on deck.<br />
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I drew a few mandalas this weekend and I loved spending lots of time with each one, just taking my time. Whiskers Jay stayed close by (as usual).<br />
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That tail.<br />
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You can see both of our turtles in the photo below, enjoying some ground venison that Doug gave them. Oh my gosh, they love that stuff! Rex literally comes "running" for it. Nature. So gross and so cool.<br />
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I played with watercolor pencils on my mandalas this weekend and Whiskers would not leave my water jar alone. Pal or pest? Both rolled into one!<br />
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This week will include lots of yoga as I have picked up a Friday morning class at another Chandler Parks & Recreation location. So, in addition to the two I teach at Snedigar Rec Center on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, I'll be teaching Friday mornings at Tumbleweed Rec Center. I've also scheduled my next mandala workshop for the end of August, so I'll be preparing for that in the coming weeks. <br />
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When my schedule is full like this it's a challenge to keep up with my own yoga practice, so I'm stepping up my morning routine starting today. Gotta' click publish and hit my yoga mat. <br />
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Pray for peace.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-73341497794110001892016-07-20T05:45:00.000-07:002016-07-20T05:45:51.385-07:00My mandalas in Mexico<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Oh my goodness, the yoga retreat I took to Mexico at the end of April seems like it was ages ago! Finding this post saved in my blog drafts really took me back. Today I give you mandalas I drew in Mexico...</span></span><br />
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I loved having the opportunity for some down time on this retreat. I spent plenty of time practicing yoga, shopping with friends and visiting Mayan ruins, but there was also plenty of time for relaxing. I had taken a few books to read, but every time I picked one up my mind just wouldn't stay on task. So naturally, mandalas for me!<br />
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I noticed something about my mandalas while I was on the yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico. My colors were all beach-y and sunny and vacation-y feeling. <br />
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Oh, that light that shined through my cabana window... <em>Swoon</em>!<br />
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True. Love.<br />
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This next mandala never made it to completion. This is what happens when I force something. I wanted to draw a mandala with harder edges so I started out with this:<br />
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And then I lost interest. I tried to add some color but just wasn't feeling it so I figured, "Meh. Life's too short, turn the page..."<br />
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And then I went back to what comes naturally...<br />
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Side note from mandala talk: The first couple of mornings as I walked along the beach I was surprised to see no shells for collecting. How could that be? Then I thought of my sweet hubby and how he is always finding little trinkets and stuff - because he really <em>looks</em> for them. So the next morning I decided to be more like Doug. I looked a little closer, and what do you know? I found shells! The shells on the beach at our resort were always buried just a little under the sand, with the very tops poking out. I was tentative with the first couple I dug out with my finger, expecting a little critter to climb out from underneath, but that never happened. I found shells every time I walked on the beach from that day on.<br />
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One of the participants in our group had a birthday during the week of our retreat, and my Alaskan friends suggested that we make a card for him that we could all sign. <em>"I have nice paper with me!"</em> I volunteered, and we agreed to meet later and construct a card. When we gathered we decided that I'd draw a mandala base, and a couple of other friends gathered beach items to adhere to the front. I loved the addition of the beach finds and the ring of sand inside! We were able to borrow a bottle of glue from the resort office, and we were all so happy with the way the card turned out. The recipient loved it too.<br />
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I drew the next one for my mama. <span style="color: #134f5c;">♥</span> Her birthday was at the end of the week during my retreat.<br />
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Last but not least, imagine my surprise and gratitude when I was presented with a birthday card made just for me at the end of our week. (My birthday fell on the day after our return home.) I had taught a couple of the ladies in my group how to draw mandalas, and they made this card for me that everyone signed. I love that I have Kat's first mandala as a keepsake! I will treasure it for always. <br />
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And how cool is it that they found a heart shaped ocean piece for the center?</div>
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Mandala love.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-57813684410791895622016-07-18T06:20:00.001-07:002016-07-18T06:20:30.576-07:00Around here this weekend<div style="text-align: center;">
Hey there, blog friends.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">♥</span> </span></div>
Welcome to the beginning of a whole new week. What a lovely weekend we had around these parts! We were productive and also had time for time for relaxing and spending time with friends. Come on in...<br />
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You may recall that I reduced my corporate work hours to have Friday's off in order to pursue yoga and hospice work. I completed my hospice volunteer training in June and have been waiting to receive my first assignment. Well, Thursday afternoon I got the call, and Friday morning I visited my first hospice patient. <br />
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I had a moment Friday morning as I was getting ready to go where I wondered what in the world I was doing. I called Doug and he soothed me - reassured me that I could do this... And I did. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turtle Town</td></tr>
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The patient I'm assigned to is so lovely. And as "luck" would have it, she has a great deal in common with my mom. They were both born in the same year, born in the same state, worked the same profession all their lives, and my patient even has a daughter my age. When I first walked into her room I was struck by her lovely appearance - she even resembles my mom in a way. Petite build, impeccably groomed, at the end of her life yet still a grace about her. <br />
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It was awkward for both of us at first, but by the end of my visit we were connected. Hospice is sacred space, and I'll visit her every Friday until she's no longer there for me to visit. <span style="color: #990000;">♥</span> <br />
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In the meantime, life rolls on. I've managed to stake my sunflower sprouts to keep the turtles from plowing them down. The ones in the photo above are doing so well in their habitat. <br />
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Doug and I had friends over for brunch yesterday. Doug's friend is also our electrician, so he's seen our house remodel in progress, but his wife hadn't seen it since we first got our keys. It was so fun to show her all of the changes around here. I made <a href="http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/baked-french-toast/" target="_blank">baked French toast with blueberries</a>, a fruit tray, deviled eggs, and stuffed mushrooms. Yummy! <br />
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And after brunch, I made art.<br />
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I've been wanting draw mandalas with a Sharpie pen on canvas and it felt so good to get this idea out of my head and out through my hands. I've been collecting words cut from magazines, and though these aren't glued on yet, I'm thinking they will be...<br />
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After the orange hues, I went blue...<br />
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Ah! Looking at these photos makes me want to stay home on this Monday and create more! It was overcast yesterday, and we had a big thunderstorm and lots of rain during the night. Bam! Woke us up at 3:00 a.m. with some crazy thunder. But alas, there's yoga to be practiced and corporate work to be done, so here I go.<br />
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Ahhh...a whole new week awaits. </div>
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Wishing you a great one, sweet friends!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-3799052249903635382016-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:002016-07-11T06:00:39.454-07:00Around here this weekend...<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy new week, blog friends!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
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And just like that, it's Monday morning! Come on in, I'll tell you about my weekend.</div>
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I'll have an assignment for hospice volunteer work soon, but until then my Fridays are free to do what I choose. Pretty much loving that right now! Carrie had a webinar to listen to, so she brought her laptop to my house and we listened together while we drew mandalas. A perfect Friday afternoon!!!<br />
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Doug was off scouting/camping with his brother this weekend, so I called my own shots. ;o) I attended a yin yoga class on Saturday morning at my <a href="http://www.innervisionyoga.com/" target="_blank">favorite studio</a>, and I made <a href="http://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/" target="_blank">Mexican quinoa</a> for dinner that night...<br />
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Doug is not a fan of quinoa, and I love this dish! So that was my dinner for Saturday night, and I froze the leftovers for future lunches.<br />
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Then, Saturday night, baby...<br />
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I had the Food Network on as background noise, and I sat on our couch (in Doug's spot - ha!) and drew a mandala. Gosh, time just slips by when I draw mandalas! <span style="color: #0b5394;">♥</span> <br />
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Sunday morning:<br />
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The flower bed at the corner of our patio was half-over-grown and half-almost-dead, with a healthy dose of unwanted grass spouting up. I was outside by 7:00 a.m. and spent the next three hours playing in dirt. Bliss. <br />
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I also might have gotten a little carried away with succulents. We'll see how they fare on our patio in the shade. Yesterday's high temp was 109°. Bla.<br />
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And now, a new week on the horizon. There's my usual schedule of yoga teaching mixed with corporate job duties, and fun stuff on the calendar for the upcoming weekend. Ha - living weekend to weekend these days. Maybe I'll get my first hospice volunteer assignment this week...I wonder...<br />
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Carry on and keep sweet thoughts.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-13422286011851686722016-07-06T06:02:00.005-07:002016-07-06T08:12:18.071-07:00Meanwhile, in Turtle Town...<div style="text-align: center;">
Today I'm sharing a bit about our habitat where our two box turtles live. </div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">♥ ♥</span> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9ziGKUY_B7N6zWouUx1VgPfJ5O8cvVFEjyetyQj9gOIkoyNN_pBMlLB2M4ytJINCEEGjz7D8fsOMVddmVolJTA-E5DgdIGQ7aZgoHP1Ut5UM3BugNOH7gOgY85_CHsUl-nAj9Q9F7PU/s1600/IMG_2291+turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9ziGKUY_B7N6zWouUx1VgPfJ5O8cvVFEjyetyQj9gOIkoyNN_pBMlLB2M4ytJINCEEGjz7D8fsOMVddmVolJTA-E5DgdIGQ7aZgoHP1Ut5UM3BugNOH7gOgY85_CHsUl-nAj9Q9F7PU/s640/IMG_2291+turtle.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casper with a little crusty dirt on her face. Also, ice plant starts I set out last week that are taking root as I type.</td></tr>
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You can see what this space used to look like by <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2015/09/weekend-at-new-house.html" target="_blank"> clicking here</a> and taking a peek at the first photo on that post. That was last September when we were just starting to clear this space for our shelled friends.<br />
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So, that photo above is a sight we see quite often when we look into our turtle pen. Rex on top of Cas, though usually not in a side position. Eh-hm. On this particular morning I gently moved him off of her and this next picture kind of makes me laugh. Cas looks happy - she's off and running - Rex looks annoyed. If you can read turtle expressions, that is...<br />
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As soon as she was free, Cas headed my way and went straight for my toes...</div>
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Just checking out whether the red was strawberries or toes. For the record, our turtles have never bitten us. They do this little thing with their nose where the push against potential food to smell it first and maybe to test the texture? I'm guessing. Anyway, she did nudge my big toe and then made her way on to other things once she discovered I wasn't food.<br />
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If you look closely, you can see dichondra grass sprouting in the photo above. I've sprinkled seed on the little hill where their food hut is, and also around their <strike>pie plate</strike> water saucer. The dichondra I planted several months ago is really taking off now that there's a regular watering schedule from the drip lines Doug and I installed. <br />
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I also have a few sunflowers sprouting and you can see a couple of them in the photo below. I'm going to have to do something to protect these sprouts from being plowed over by clumsy turtles. Need to protect them until they're big enough to make the turtles go around them.<br />
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The turtles do climb through the hollow log on occasion, but they really prefer hiding behind and slightly under it most of the time. It's a fun piece that Doug found on a <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-firewood-road-trip.html" target="_blank">wood-cutting road trip we took last year</a>. <br />
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The little saloon building used to be a birdhouse before I dropped it and the bottom fell out. Then I repurposed it as a mess hall for the turtles. There's a little turtle plate inside where we put their food every morning. Sometimes that keeps the birds from seeing and taking their food before our turtles reach it. And yesterday morning it was covered in ants, aka live turtle snacks.<br />
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The deer antler is a shed that Doug found years ago. It's dried out from being in the sun - Casper loves to nibble on it. And those little red marbles serve no other purpose but to make me happy. ;o) I do love when the sun hits them just right and they light up. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rex on the move</td></tr>
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It's so fun to have this space arranged for our turtle pets, and I'm so excited to watch it fill in and take shape. Rex and Casper seem to enjoy it too, as they are out and about more often, strolling around and checking things out. Plus, now that there's a regular watering schedule, there are more bugs for them to scavenge. I think they love it here. <span style="color: #990000;">♥ </span><br />
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PS: If you're curious about why I love turtles, I did write a blog post several years ago called, "Why the Turtle." <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-turtle.html" target="_blank">You can read it by clicking here.</a> Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-30234241024435983622016-07-04T06:45:00.001-07:002016-07-04T06:45:02.639-07:004th of July weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Happy Independence Day to my USA readers.</div>
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And happy heavenly birthday to my sweet mother-in-law, PJ.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">♥</span> <span style="color: blue;">♥</span> <span style="color: red;">♥</span></span> </div>
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Doug's mom was red, white and blue through and through. PJ was born on the 4th of July, married a US Marine, served her community through countless hours of volunteer work, and wore our country's colors every chance she got. If she was still here with us there would surely be a birthday celebration today, but alas, we carry on and remember her fondly. <span style="color: blue;">♥</span></div>
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It's been such a great holiday weekend for us! We hosted a small get together at our house Saturday evening so we spent our day preparing for guests.<br />
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My SIL, Meta, gifted me with some patio lights for Christmas a couple of years ago. At the time we were planning on relocating, so I kept them in the box until we had a more "permanent" patio to hang them. Saturday morning while Doug played golf with his buddies, I set out to hang my Meta lights. I LOVE the way they look and am so happy to finally have them installed.<br />
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I had to make a quick grocery store run before our party on Saturday afternoon and was walking along thinking, <em>Why does my step feel off? </em>Turned out to be something I've heard others confess to and I've always wondered, <em>"How would that happen..."</em><br />
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I couldn't get out of that grocery store fast enough! Lol. Oh, me.<br />
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Our party was so much fun! We had Doug's dad and siblings + significant others + friends-who-feel-like-family, and Carrie and her crew stopped in as well. I made meatball sliders for dinner (made the meatballs early in the day then finished cooking them in the crockpot) and a yummy green salad. Each of our lady guests brought an appetizer and as always, we had plenty of food. <br />
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Our friends-who-feel-like-family arrived with this beautiful bouquet of flowers: <span style="color: red;">♥</span> <br />
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After all the party prep on Saturday, Sunday was a day of clean up and then rest and relaxation. We snacked on party leftovers most of the day, and I made a simple quesadilla dinner for us last night.</div>
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And there was some mandala drawing in the mix...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-B-XW5ecAOw0wcM1b1-qTWmB4xIt5PCyXjo6Ln4uBWD9tW5yH935ts8jWoFn4S1k7bPcuwv6Wx4QnvEUcyH8O4XLbtdPGxhj3R-3FVYuD8JzhWLFkffVz_gr7B6kIq1nyeBF3FMa8Mo/s1600/IMG_2549+mandala+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-B-XW5ecAOw0wcM1b1-qTWmB4xIt5PCyXjo6Ln4uBWD9tW5yH935ts8jWoFn4S1k7bPcuwv6Wx4QnvEUcyH8O4XLbtdPGxhj3R-3FVYuD8JzhWLFkffVz_gr7B6kIq1nyeBF3FMa8Mo/s640/IMG_2549+mandala+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And now it's Monday and day three of our weekend. I love Monday holidays! :o)<br />
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We're having Carrie and Andrew over for an early dinner, then the four of us have tickets to the Diamondback game this evening. There will be a big fireworks display after the game, a great way to cap off an awesome holiday weekend.<br />
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Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th of July!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">♥</span> <span style="color: blue;">♥</span> <span style="color: red;">♥</span></span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-24818040118562640232016-06-30T06:25:00.000-07:002016-06-30T06:31:54.720-07:00Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2016My blog friend, <a href="http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rinda</a>, is hosting her annual summertime photography scavenger hunt for the sixth year in a row. Of course, I'm participating again! There are a total of 21 items on the list of things to find, and today I'm sharing eight of those items that I've found and photographed so far.<br />
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I'm sharing my finds on Instagram, so these shots will be repeats for my readers who follow me there. Only difference is that here, on my blog, I'll include some stories where I can. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Item 1 - A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart</span></div>
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Long-time readers of PaperTurtle will know that I have a really nice <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/search/label/heart%20rocks" target="_blank">heart-shaped rock collection</a>, thanks to my sweet hubby, Doug. I figured that if, by the end of the summer, I hadn't come across a heart in nature I could always use one of my heart rocks as a fall back. Alas, I won't need to do that because I found this sweet little perfectly heart-shaped leaf early in the season. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Item 8 - A drawing, art project, artistic photograph,<br />scrapbook page, </span><span style="font-size: large;">greeting card, or art journal page<br />created by you.</span></div>
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<a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/search/label/Mandala%20love" target="_blank">Mandala art by me.</a> Surprise (not). </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">11 - Fresh produce</span></div>
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There's an international market close to my workplace, and also in the same shopping center where Carrie and I meet from time to time for Thai food on my lunch hour. This photo was taken after one of those lunches. Baby bananas. So cute.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">13 - The moon</span></div>
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Man, it's tough to photograph the moon. I thought I might find a clever alternative and use a little play-on-prompt with this one, but the prompt does read, "<em>THE</em> moon." Not just <em>any</em> moon. I was actually fairly pleased with the shot I got, taken the night before the second full moon in June which was actually called the "<a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2013/03/team-teal-tuesday-strawberry-project.html" target="_blank">strawberry moon." Perfect.</a> <span style="color: #134f5c;">♥</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">16 - A map showing a trip taken during the time period</span></div>
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It just so happens that we have an old Arizona roadmap in the glove compartment of my car, so when Doug and I took a little road trip to Tucson earlier this month I captured this photo.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">17 - Twins</span></div>
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So, we were sitting at our table during a party to celebrate my nephew and his fiancé when I noticed my niece Savannah sitting at another table with her friends. Carrie mentioned that the boys she was sitting with were twins! I watched for a few minutes as the kids laughed and were thoroughly enjoying each others company before I risked embarrassing my niece by approaching them for a photo. I explained why I wanted the photo and my niece announced, "Well, they're fraternal..." and I said, "I don't care! They're <em>twins</em> and they might be the only ones I see all summer!" The boys scooted close to each other and their happy, fun and goofy demeanors promptly <em>vanished</em> as I took a few photos. Haha. This photo just cracks me up though, and I put a check mark by item number 17. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">19 - A seasonal cocktail or beverage</span></div>
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I'm not sure a margarita is a "seasonal" cocktail because I live in Arizona where margaritas flow year-round, but this one was taken at Carrie's birthday celebration during the month of June so I'm calling it item 19.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">21 - A photograph of you with a newspaper or</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">calendar page from the time period covered in the hunt.</span></div>
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Item 21 of Rinda's photo hunt always involves a self-portrait and it's usually the last item I ever check off the list. This year I randomly checked it off first, before taking any of the other photos above. I love that it's for the month of June (Carrie's birth month) and also includes sunflowers (my fav) <em>and</em> I don't have to worry about item 21 for the whole rest of the summer. Bam!<br />
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Rinda's hosting a link-up party on her blog today. <a href="http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/2016/06/summertime-photo-scavenger-hunt-linky.html" target="_blank">Click here to visit her blog</a> and have fun clicking around and visiting some of the other bloggers who are participants in this photo hunt. There are blog friends from all over the planet participating, and it's always so fun to see the different takes on each of the prompts. <br />
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Big thanks to <a href="http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rinda</a> for hosting this fun event for the sixth summer in a row!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-58452089414863013532016-06-28T05:56:00.003-07:002016-06-28T08:32:16.381-07:00A hand to hold on to<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93m8-qsm7nfeQhDNCunVWZaARm7STGqv3nSARGnFfMkEhFhrjm22svoOFMdg1b23kT-yUMIHINlrkTu8Fmzl_FqxMtrGxNDLORVie6s67zb_JjPj2oDcKaI-QgDy-G8KQPRpy7qV48f0/s1600/IMG_2184+mandala.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93m8-qsm7nfeQhDNCunVWZaARm7STGqv3nSARGnFfMkEhFhrjm22svoOFMdg1b23kT-yUMIHINlrkTu8Fmzl_FqxMtrGxNDLORVie6s67zb_JjPj2oDcKaI-QgDy-G8KQPRpy7qV48f0/s640/IMG_2184+mandala.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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I showed up on the final day of hospice volunteer training and took the same seat I'd occupied on all the other days I'd attended - front row, inside aisle. Our facilitator mentioned the small pad of blue paper that had been left for each of us, and asked that we set it aside for an exercise later in the day.<br />
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I picked up the little blue pad of paper and flipped through it with my fingertips. <em>An exercise that included little slips of paper?</em> I just might love this, I thought.<br />
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Toward the end of the day, we were instructed to tear the blue pad of paper apart and spread the pieces out in front of us so we could see each one. There were 20 of them, and I methodically laid them out - five across and four rows down.<br />
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We were given instructions on what to write on the pieces of paper. First we were to write five values that were important to us. Then, five hobbies we enjoy. Then, five possessions we held dear. And finally, five people (living) who are special to us. <br />
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"Uh-oh," I realized. "Just because it's paper doesn't mean it will be fun..."<br />
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Once everything was written down, our facilitator began to read a story. The point of the exercise was to allow us to appreciate what hospice patients go through, and he began to read...<br />
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It began with something like, <em>"You're drying off from your shower and find a lump you've never noticed before........ You make a doctor's appointment......... The lump is larger by the time you see the doctor..........."</em><br />
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And then he said, "Take one of the slips of paper in front of you and crumple it up."<br />
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Gulp. I didn't like where this was going.<br />
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The story line continued with tests run, diagnosis given, treatment administered and hospitalizations. With each stage came instructions to "take three slips of paper and crumple them up" or "take two slips of paper..." until we were down to our final five pieces. The five slips of paper remaining in front of me were my people: Doug, Carrie, and my three siblings.<br />
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Everything had been stripped away - my hobbies, possessions, and even the values I held dear no longer mattered. I sat there, staring down at the last five slips of paper with the names of my people, my own handwriting barely legible through my tears. As he read through the final paragraph I prepared myself, but nothing could have prepared me for him to walk by, reach out and grab one of my slips of paper without my permission. My sister Valerie. Her name was gone in a flash. Not everything is within our control. <br />
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I'd been so proud of myself for having maintained a strong demeanor through the course of the hospice volunteer training. In that moment I felt so vulnerable, so raw and so stunned. We had to remove two more pieces of paper, and in the end I was left with my loves, Doug and Carrie. <br />
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There wasn't a dry eye in the room, and for what seemed like forever there was just silence. We each had a deeper understanding, and I gained a sense of renewed commitment for being a hospice volunteer. When everything is stripped away and we're at the end of this journey, having a hand to hold onto will be all that matters. And if a loved one can't be there to hold a hand during someone's final hours, I will be honored for them to hold mine. <br />
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Yes. That's what I'm going to do.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-82867403616946560632016-06-27T06:10:00.000-07:002016-06-27T06:19:31.913-07:00Around here this weekend<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy new week, blog friends!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Do you ever have one of those days when you have a whole lot to say but really just want to keep your mouth shut? No? It's very rare for me, but I kind of feel that way this morning. <br />
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A month or so ago I noticed a sprout shooting up in the middle of my flower garden. It didn't look like a typical weed, so Doug and I agreed that we'd let it grow and see what it turned into. A couple of days ago we woke up to a beautiful white flower. I was so excited and headed outside to take a whole bunch of photos. {Of course.} I posted it on Instagram to see if anyone could identify it, and several thought it might be Morning Glory. Turns out that it's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura" target="_blank">Datura</a>, also known as Jimsonweed, also known as Devil's Trumpet, also known as <em>poisonous</em>. WHAT?! Thanks to my friend, Sam, for the info. Pretty on the outside, wicked on the inside...shame.<br />
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Friday night we tried a new-to-us Mexican restaurant for Friday night date night, and Carrie & Andrew joined us to celebrate his recent work promotion. It was fun to sit with them and share a meal, and this is the only photo I took that night:<br />
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Really yummy chips and salsa spread. And the house margarita was really small and warranted a second.<br />
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Saturday I attended the final day of my hospice volunteer training...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNQWTm7p-aGi8zGmC267ih4CSiE_9IuXf3JA6H9T5mcWAfymjKeXry0R2m2pfr9uwP4fur6Xz4G3FW81Axk9ARGXE8_M5pnCKBfGWzBLZfZ2n2zmsOA8sHJn9tbFYTzGBai9lQnVcutg/s1600/IMG_2332+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNQWTm7p-aGi8zGmC267ih4CSiE_9IuXf3JA6H9T5mcWAfymjKeXry0R2m2pfr9uwP4fur6Xz4G3FW81Axk9ARGXE8_M5pnCKBfGWzBLZfZ2n2zmsOA8sHJn9tbFYTzGBai9lQnVcutg/s640/IMG_2332+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The photo above was taken at the end of an activity we did and I just couldn't even...I still can't... It was a day full of emotional subject matter and conversation. By the end of the day I was simply spent and as I was driving home I took a detour and ended up at Whole Foods for a salad, glass of wine, and a little retail therapy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbzJ-LtgLUqrF0CC1Ou0Sf3mx74EMeYz7NFsoRyD7vGbCa7SnESf_GfKRxeeJPKEFCGOp5IsKwGrNnZtNRqMWRxwfvUA_wRp3-OqK0XpfBajrt4ltZEhiP6AJ4Z-8Im-TiTolSQipRKA/s1600/IMG_2334+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbzJ-LtgLUqrF0CC1Ou0Sf3mx74EMeYz7NFsoRyD7vGbCa7SnESf_GfKRxeeJPKEFCGOp5IsKwGrNnZtNRqMWRxwfvUA_wRp3-OqK0XpfBajrt4ltZEhiP6AJ4Z-8Im-TiTolSQipRKA/s640/IMG_2334+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a>I strolled around Whole Foods in a bit of a daze. I ended up with a potted sunflower and a couple scoops of decadent chocolate before heading home to Doug.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YP0xh5OQo34K5f1o98pyuWkh5bqAFSKAPjG77TlejvokPv1-aNzuau1vfbBvlylXDBHINpcXEILEwiLhVFhiVXYDXaEXW2WYAZcV727RWxBz4CYloR50EwIO5lJjhR5L66eqYC13C10/s1600/IMG_2337+rinda+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YP0xh5OQo34K5f1o98pyuWkh5bqAFSKAPjG77TlejvokPv1-aNzuau1vfbBvlylXDBHINpcXEILEwiLhVFhiVXYDXaEXW2WYAZcV727RWxBz4CYloR50EwIO5lJjhR5L66eqYC13C10/s640/IMG_2337+rinda+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a>Sunflowers and chocolate always help. ♥ </div>
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Doug worked both days this weekend, working for a client who just purchased a house and wants it painted before their furniture is moved in later this week. Left to my own devices yesterday, I moved a whole bunch of things around on our walls - pictures and what-nots and small shelves that landed in places when we moved in and that I have been wanting to rearrange for a while. So yesterday was about pounding nails and folding laundry and making cookie dough to replenish our freezer supply. </div>
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And just like that, it's Monday morning. I love my new work schedule and not working on Friday's, but that in itself presents a few challenges that I'm sorting out in my mind this morning. Time to click the "publish" button and get this show on the road.</div>
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But first, yoga...</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-66681241792773312822016-06-22T05:51:00.002-07:002016-06-22T05:51:58.128-07:00Backyard Before and After PicsI was poking around in my photo files and came across some photos of what our backyard looked like when we first bought our house 10 months ago. I thought I'd put together a quick post and show you the difference already. Thanks to Doug, here's what we enjoy now:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmMBWvVofFmqLnX4i2bRbr94AduRndsrrLG508H3lPN2pUMcWGd16FgLrwArq_iYFeQvWBDPhjhmUfQmp08UQy4z_QwZI985vyK1pAkVABx7SiEi0_SonSDXQbBLitnDtK13HH_VfZqc/s1600/IMG_1995+loughlin+backyard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmMBWvVofFmqLnX4i2bRbr94AduRndsrrLG508H3lPN2pUMcWGd16FgLrwArq_iYFeQvWBDPhjhmUfQmp08UQy4z_QwZI985vyK1pAkVABx7SiEi0_SonSDXQbBLitnDtK13HH_VfZqc/s640/IMG_1995+loughlin+backyard.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here's what it looked like when we first got our keys! Can you even believe it?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPUZ8hyHrZJZjbFwRZzR5RFgF2iZll7ICPP61SUCxk57Qw6qydoQRqWep44tWm1BKboSB8-2KdZ7offgwayai-DIfdVAPw53qORXtCwCjYYOPH8LJwoD1czRrKV_ykEl0twOChPsBXGs/s1600/IMG_5382+Loughlin+weekend+backyard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPUZ8hyHrZJZjbFwRZzR5RFgF2iZll7ICPP61SUCxk57Qw6qydoQRqWep44tWm1BKboSB8-2KdZ7offgwayai-DIfdVAPw53qORXtCwCjYYOPH8LJwoD1czRrKV_ykEl0twOChPsBXGs/s640/IMG_5382+Loughlin+weekend+backyard.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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A previous owner had installed screens around the patio - maybe a nice idea in the beginning, but by the time we took possession the screens were no more and it felt like we were standing in a cage every time we went out our backdoor. So Doug removed the screen frames early on, and we lived with it like this for a while:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmVo5SQLqdPdbVj8QcVAo8zrXHnXsgi1WoXZ2j6eWo-JToeViIHJjq8osoubuj_x-Q3rTW9-OsLeV-9zq20-hIopWApvB7QiW_-DoKY-BoIi3wKU-3DTweY6ANi9-2K1_AgCENbQ7S8k/s1600/IMG_5844+backyard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmVo5SQLqdPdbVj8QcVAo8zrXHnXsgi1WoXZ2j6eWo-JToeViIHJjq8osoubuj_x-Q3rTW9-OsLeV-9zq20-hIopWApvB7QiW_-DoKY-BoIi3wKU-3DTweY6ANi9-2K1_AgCENbQ7S8k/s640/IMG_5844+backyard.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Doug removed two overgrown oleander bushes, the rotting railroad ties around the perimeter and those brick pavers off the left side of the patio. He installed all of the sprinklers and drip system, and we had more cement poured to extend the patio slab as well as a sidewalk in front of the turtle habitat. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcc8j2j0nc9F5xCQCcbWL5BHUptGKsjasTjb7SLljWdvyouSfJJPWEgD2nR7G5zBOJxQWCKMfQ9fixzp4OsGOO-OAg28MXJaaHgC5hyphenhyphenigvvU9BUTlac-XS6w17550u_saOHh-7P7nWuQ/s1600/IMG_2205+backyard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcc8j2j0nc9F5xCQCcbWL5BHUptGKsjasTjb7SLljWdvyouSfJJPWEgD2nR7G5zBOJxQWCKMfQ9fixzp4OsGOO-OAg28MXJaaHgC5hyphenhyphenigvvU9BUTlac-XS6w17550u_saOHh-7P7nWuQ/s640/IMG_2205+backyard.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We added a corner flowerbed at the end of the patio, and our turtle pen got its own little wall. You can see the short turtle wall on the left in the photo above. We also had an extra row of block added to the top of our fence, and Doug painted the entire exterior of our house (+fence) which was a huge improvement as well. We've had three new trees planted, and plan to add raised garden beds on that far section of rock eventually.<br />
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One of the things we hated to leave behind at our <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2014/04/this-week-in-my-garden.html" target="_blank">last house was the pretty backyard</a>. I can't believe how far this new one has come in such a short amount of time. I so appreciate all the hard work Doug has put into this space, and I'm so excited to see it continue to fill in and be a space that we enjoy so much. <br />
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Pretty cool, huh?</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-19743430486959744892016-06-20T06:09:00.001-07:002016-06-20T08:31:33.744-07:00This weekend, our turtles, and the heat<div style="text-align: center;">
Oh my goodness, it is HOT in Arizona!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
Welcome to summer in the desert. Our air conditioner ran constantly all weekend, and yesterday's high in the "Valley of the Sun" was 118°F (47°C). I will try super hard to not dwell on our crazy heat over the course of this summer here on my blog, but this weekend was brutal in terms of weather. The silver lining is that the sun is shining and our skies are a really pretty blue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxV64AYmGZt3lJ85G8qIwFxjCo7y-TZ95unB3H-xtZ57J8VE8uzHFTGMi3iDD3bgELwvVInRtu98jDgkwwQE_cVEPTuYtjcmcz37J_5iZHSYwtb1PEzaUiqpI8lHV99YZq3baU2lCFThw/s1600/IMG_2122+weekend+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxV64AYmGZt3lJ85G8qIwFxjCo7y-TZ95unB3H-xtZ57J8VE8uzHFTGMi3iDD3bgELwvVInRtu98jDgkwwQE_cVEPTuYtjcmcz37J_5iZHSYwtb1PEzaUiqpI8lHV99YZq3baU2lCFThw/s640/IMG_2122+weekend+a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
For the past several months I have been asking Doug to install drip lines in our turtle pen. Now that summer is upon us, we really needed to make that happen. I had such a cute plan in my head, and Doug moved forward without me and...well...bless his little heart...what he did wasn't really the same as what I had in my head. <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">{I know, I know. Poor Doug.}</span></em> This weekend seemed like a really good time for me to learn how to hook up drip lines and bury them right where I wanted them, according to the plan in my head. So the photo above is Casper, walking under a drip line before I did my digging. <br />
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But first, there was this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCYzKtVf5ATOGcpPRHiSJwp5O_BFOcWijJV2JTVY4c8wBqyhRDihp8MAGixTyrbHBRlKZQTpeeT2lIS0TAMcdrFWNKvC5hApioK0Hsjcw1mY2H6rjz3Tfnzf7VRA66GrsIxH8X6z_RJs/s1600/IMG_2138+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCYzKtVf5ATOGcpPRHiSJwp5O_BFOcWijJV2JTVY4c8wBqyhRDihp8MAGixTyrbHBRlKZQTpeeT2lIS0TAMcdrFWNKvC5hApioK0Hsjcw1mY2H6rjz3Tfnzf7VRA66GrsIxH8X6z_RJs/s640/IMG_2138+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Friday and Saturday I attended hospice volunteer training at Hospice of the Valley. I was in a class of about 25 new volunteers and we learned about boundaries and ethics and that we are not allowed, under <em>any</em> circumstances, never ever ever to administer medication. So, I'm pretty sure I won't be dealing with medication. <br />
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This building is just east of Mercy Gilbert Hospital, and this corn field is just east of the parking lot:<br />
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I stepped outside during one of our breaks to warm up. Ha! The air conditioning in that building was so cold that I wore a sweater both days, and had to go outside to thaw out. Anyway, I thought it was cool to see a lush field of corn still amidst growing urban construction. <br />
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Carrie and her crew came over Saturday night and brought dinner for Doug's Father's Day celebration. She made a yummy batch of spaghetti and meatballs, and spent some time playing pool with Doug. Oh, and she also brought a pan of brownies that we topped with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles. I love the relationship that she has with Doug, and he loved being celebrated as her father figure. <span style="color: #990000;">♥ </span><br />
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So, back to the turtle pen. Over the past week Whiskers has decided to be a meowing alarm clock at 4:30 a.m. which is extremely annoying, but to my benefit yesterday. I really needed to be outside at sunrise in order to get my time in before it got ridiculously hot outside. <br />
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I'll admit to being fairly grumpy at the beginning. <em>Why</em> didn't Doug just wait for me before installing those drip lines? <em>Whyyyyy</em>... And why did he choose yesterday morning to meet his brother at the archery range to shoot their bows? <em>Whyyyyy</em>... Well. As it turned out, it was <em>good</em> for me to learn how to put those little connectors on the drip lines. And since the turtle pen is my realm, it was <em>good</em> for me to dig and bury the lines and know exactly where they are for my ongoing future reference. And since my Taurus spirit craves all things earthly, it was really <em>good</em> for me to dig in the dirt and put things right where I'd pictured them in my head. <br />
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Plus, it was fun that my little Casper turtle was really curious about what was going on in her habitat. I had to be very mindful where I stepped because she was out and about checking out what was going on as I dug and buried and moved things around. Rexy stayed hidden while I played, and I've already see him out this morning, cruising around the perimeter assessing the changes. <br />
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I planted more dichondra grass seed (see the green in the photo above?), and I also threw in a couple of sunflower seeds to see if they'll sprout. Time will tell. The little red marbles will eventually disappear under the thick grass that's to come, but I love the way they look for now. <br />
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Doug arrived home at 8:30 with breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks, just as I was finishing up with my work in the dirt. I was in much better spirits when he came home than I was before he left. :o)<br />
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I spent the remainder of the super hot day inside, taking care of laundry and drawing mandalas. I was on a mandala roll this weekend! I created four pieces that I was able to photograph to use for promoting my upcoming mandala workshop in August. Whiskers, the meowing alarm clock, was close at hand.<br />
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This week holds more extreme heat outside, with me remaining calm, cool, and collected on the inside. <em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eh-hm.</span></em> Gosh, the heat can cause some interesting irritability and random unreasonableness. Sounds like a job for my yoga mat...<br />
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Peace out, blog friends.</div>
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Be cool.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-37673418475301794672016-06-15T05:39:00.000-07:002016-06-15T05:39:22.261-07:00Cookies with a touch of greenI tried a new recipe last weekend ~ <a href="http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/07/cookie-monster-hits-vegas-chewy-coconut.html" target="_blank">chewy coconut lime sugar cookies</a>. Oh my goodness, they were delicious!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvaikLa-5K6APNpoMab86ECJaeqHL8QyDyIpBdr81mbFYpzaVTJ7SNzmW9R2LVmHV-pQ-GpLcDkMzZ109ZSdswSVrrMH-XIEv1RjHwFbxz_uAE7mxKgNO7mqg3bmVE8ohWP-85_8vVt5Q/s1600/IMG_2019+lime+cookies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvaikLa-5K6APNpoMab86ECJaeqHL8QyDyIpBdr81mbFYpzaVTJ7SNzmW9R2LVmHV-pQ-GpLcDkMzZ109ZSdswSVrrMH-XIEv1RjHwFbxz_uAE7mxKgNO7mqg3bmVE8ohWP-85_8vVt5Q/s640/IMG_2019+lime+cookies.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
I had made the cookie dough and left it to chill while Carrie and I went shopping, and when we returned to my house she stayed long enough for the first batch to come out of the oven. <br />
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She said what I'd been thinking - that maybe the tops of the cookies needed a little bit of green sprinkles to emphasize the lime part. But rather than do that, I came up with my own bit of green with a mandala drawn on the tag of the bag I gifted to a friend. <br />
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Here's a <a href="http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/07/cookie-monster-hits-vegas-chewy-coconut.html" target="_blank">link to the original cookie recipe</a>. It's delicious made just the way it's written, though I think next time I'll omit the coconut extract and add a little more lime juice instead. These cookies were even better on day two - the coconut keeps them moist and chewy. <br />
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I baked some of the dough and saved two dozen cookie dough balls for the freezer. They'll make a yummy surprise treat for Doug in the near future.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-46748927122821360422016-06-13T06:20:00.001-07:002016-06-13T18:59:44.300-07:00Our weekend and a quick road trip<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy new week, blog friends.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Ahhh... A little cold front moved in for us this past weekend and our temps were only around 101°F (38°C); a relief from the previous weekend when we were hit with 118° (47°C). Really, 101° is tolerable for us, 118° is just plain awful!<br />
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Anyway, enough about the weather...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">{the desert in Tucson, Arizona}</td></tr>
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Friday evening we met some good, long-time friends for dinner at a nice restaurant in Scottsdale. It was a great way to kick off the weekend, and we came home with a doggy-bag full of rib bones that Lucky snacked on all weekend. I even sent a few home with Carrie for her doggies and I smile thinking of her wondering if they'd know what to do with them. Must remember to ask her how they liked them...</div>
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You know, I gave up teaching yoga on Saturday mornings, and this was the first Saturday that I was really able to enjoy the luxury of getting out of bed and having no commitments for the day. Very nice! I spent a good amount of time on my own yoga mat, took care of a few things around the house, and did our grocery shopping before it was too dang hot outside.</div>
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I came home from grocery shopping and mixed up a batch of cookie dough - a new recipe I'd been wanting to try and I will share more about that later this week. Once my cookie dough was mixed and chilling in the fridge, I went mall shopping with my girl, C.<br />
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Fun thing that happened this weekend: My aunt, Kathy, visits my grandma every couple of weeks and stays with her for a few days. While she's at Grandma's house she cooks and cleans and takes care of things that Grandma can no longer do herself. (Grandma will be 96 this summer and still lives alone. ♥ ) The past couple of times Aunt Kathy has been at Grandma's house she has texted me and we share photos and messages back and forth for Grandma. So on Saturday, Aunt Kathy texted me a photo of a new chair that Grandma bought and had wanted me to see, along with photos of her pots of plants and flowers on her little patio. I texted back photos of our backyard and a couple of selfies, including the one above of Carrie and me at the mall. <br />
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While Carrie and I were out shopping for clothes, Doug was home working on our master bathroom remodel.<br />
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Over the years of working together on construction sites, Doug and his brother, Don, have been drawing goofy pictures of each other and then covering them up behind walls and layers of paint. The one shown above was drawn, photographed and texted to Don before being covered with a fresh sheet of drywall. Don's text reply was, "DOUG!!!!" Lol. Those two. <br />
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Doug is making slow and steady progress on the bathroom remodel. It's going to look amazing when he's done! :o)<br />
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And yesterday we took a little road trip...<br />
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I <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2016/05/making-friends-on-vacation.html" target="_blank">met Mindy and her husband, Carey</a>, while I was in Tulum, Mexico on my yoga retreat. They live in Atlanta, Georgia and were staying at the same resort for a few days. We ran into each other several times over the course of their stay and we became fast friends. This past weekend they were in Tucson for a wedding, so Doug and I drove south to meet them for lunch. It was so nice to be able to sit and share a meal with them! We bid farewell, trusting that our paths will cross again someday.<br />
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I had wanted to make a little side trip to see the Saguaro National Park, so on our way home Doug accommodated my request. The park was 16 miles off the freeway and we made it 13 miles before pulling the car over, taking a few photos, making a U-turn and heading back to the freeway. Cactus are cactus and we see our share all the time anyway. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkw5Iovt3IaKYDkXKINeObV2-OsmK72KOl_rMSejovBvkvZ0UllCzi5Xmv8Ts89QLioL931bFIO5QoVRDN3MdBdv66-bzmQlEdnPXp9YwtN1QCMCbVOdDnbPo3DyXVs5Sh086OxyOHlzY/s1600/IMG_2063+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkw5Iovt3IaKYDkXKINeObV2-OsmK72KOl_rMSejovBvkvZ0UllCzi5Xmv8Ts89QLioL931bFIO5QoVRDN3MdBdv66-bzmQlEdnPXp9YwtN1QCMCbVOdDnbPo3DyXVs5Sh086OxyOHlzY/s640/IMG_2063+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Heading back toward the freeway...<br />
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It was a fun way to spend a Sunday, and we were home by 4:00 p.m.<br />
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Here's something cool about this week: Doug and I made the decision for me to cut my hours at my corporate job, and [after some negotiating] my boss agreed. Starting this week, I'll be working Monday - Thursday with Friday's off in order to pursue other interests. Specifically, I'm going to begin volunteering in hospice work on Fridays. ♥ For the next two weekends I'll be in volunteer training, then once my required training sessions are complete, I will begin volunteering in various capacities with <a href="http://www.hov.org/" target="_blank">Hospice of the Valley</a>. I'll share more about this as it unfolds for me. <br />
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Time to feed the turtles and get ready for work.<br />
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Have a lovely week, sweet friends.</div>
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Count your blessings.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-85865274316381803002016-06-09T05:36:00.002-07:002016-06-09T05:36:47.242-07:00Fabric donations for a worthy cause<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello, lovely and generous blog friends.</div>
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:o) <span style="color: #990000;">♥ </span></div>
My cousin, Mary Ann, has battled breast cancer over the past year. She has seen her way through a mastectomy and chemo treatments, and she has reconstructive surgery looming in her near future.<br />
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After her mastectomy, the hospital gifted Mary Ann with a small heart-shaped pillow to use under her arm where lymph nodes had been removed. A little confused about the value of the pillow initially, she learned first hand what a comfort it was and how much it helped her through such a painful time of healing.<br />
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The hearts that the hospital hands out are donated by the generosity of women like my cousin. And now Mary Ann is doing her part to give back to her community by sewing and stuffing heart-shaped pillows. She donates them to the breast cancer center where she received treatment herself. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFG8xEo9HFWRB_grBt_uoKeii0YJS5yugTBcgLbGPiEv8nCcpesaieO4dzSU0mKzNWtcJo4eecRDSWdiX7U1fOeJ76U0HkTqQe5lWF3XzKZEbcNX34578i_8v3F6tv0HwLhR6Vt6hsME/s1600/pillow4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="585" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFG8xEo9HFWRB_grBt_uoKeii0YJS5yugTBcgLbGPiEv8nCcpesaieO4dzSU0mKzNWtcJo4eecRDSWdiX7U1fOeJ76U0HkTqQe5lWF3XzKZEbcNX34578i_8v3F6tv0HwLhR6Vt6hsME/s640/pillow4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Several months ago I sent some of my fabric scraps to her and she was able to make more hearts to donate. I love looking at the photo above and seeing some of my mom's fabric in the mix. <span style="color: #134f5c;">♥</span> Once in a while Mary Ann posts on Facebook, asking for fabric scrap donations and I think she has just about tapped out all her local resources.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrYVvrl_gpNrmu7aQ8Fx2IyWrboYJfXBVxP3UbCiNTMcBqiWtBRQPZv7lVoDwj847ZGt6Ok_EF-IFilu8tefX7xvdYUHsuFeb-UAyWR2tbWTxC_VkMXq0bllmOIHCxDxEo6ihoNt_cA0/s1600/pillow2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrYVvrl_gpNrmu7aQ8Fx2IyWrboYJfXBVxP3UbCiNTMcBqiWtBRQPZv7lVoDwj847ZGt6Ok_EF-IFilu8tefX7xvdYUHsuFeb-UAyWR2tbWTxC_VkMXq0bllmOIHCxDxEo6ihoNt_cA0/s640/pillow2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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So I thought it would be a good idea to reach out to my lovely blog friends and see if any of you might have extra fabric scraps you'd be willing to donate to this worthy cause.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpqQ5yX2BBpw97iSkfE5V9aVY7yXiddU6CtHwEBGLjzfAl5Kdr_CIJxIw9zHVEuUPOSHzdcyapzgyDOceNU8eddYt5HF05Jdi59wzHylv7O30tMb8Myl0eMPfEKxmFLMVaey8gW-UWUw/s1600/pillow5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpqQ5yX2BBpw97iSkfE5V9aVY7yXiddU6CtHwEBGLjzfAl5Kdr_CIJxIw9zHVEuUPOSHzdcyapzgyDOceNU8eddYt5HF05Jdi59wzHylv7O30tMb8Myl0eMPfEKxmFLMVaey8gW-UWUw/s640/pillow5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cotton fabrics are good, and we'll avoid anything that would have a rough or scratchy texture... obviously. The fabric scraps need to measure at least 11" x 11" to be able to be used for Mary Ann's hearts. </div>
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If you are interested in donating some fabric scraps for Mary Ann's community service effort, you can email me at djturtle@cox.net (or send a private message to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PaperTurtle-275524562489468/" target="_blank">PaperTurtle on Facebook</a>) and I'll share Mary Ann's mailing information with you.<br />
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And if you don't have fabric to donate, maybe you'll lift a sweet little prayer for Mary Ann. We pray for her strength, grace and continued healing, and we give thanks for her unselfish service to her community. <br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">♥</span></span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-59711973599469172002016-06-06T06:16:00.000-07:002016-06-09T05:37:27.095-07:00Weekend Recap (plus Carrie's birthday)<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy birthday to my girl C. </div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
What's the best way to deal with the fact that it's already Monday morning? Why, it's to remember that today is my sweet girl's birthday. In true Gemini fashion, I think we actually start celebrating Carrie's birthday when the calendar page is turned to June. Today it's official and there will be presents and dinner out and birthday messages coming her way. Hooray! {Happy birthday, Carrie!}<br />
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I digress. Before Carrie's birthday there was this weekend...<br />
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Rexy is so shy that he usually retreats when we come around, but the other day when I fed the turtles I stood still long enough for him to become curious about my toes. He finally sauntered over and I'll admit that I was a tiny bit nervous he might bite my toes as he approached. Turtles do this thing where they nudge potential food with their nose before chomping down, and that's what Rexy did to my toes. Twice. :o) I love turtles. <br />
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I took Friday off, so I'm going to say that my "weekend" actually started on Thursday night. My nephew, Ryne, was in town from Nashville, so Carrie and I headed to downtown Phoenix to The Rhythm Room to hear him play. He performed solo first, then with his band, Ike & the Crooked Souls as a final act. So. Much. Fun!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywfLAMJ8TfwFyM0c7t3A2Vf9Bi0h066Hb22MOkzQEX1qutH8hIS3yPFwXs02p66fzVTB-YgKhxgKCgsQh5cjphI-wBp5KnvRNfvDkmCFgU3O-GThX1aXB7pHrMwnIKkQFHr4I9TpU3Mw/s1600/IMG_1868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywfLAMJ8TfwFyM0c7t3A2Vf9Bi0h066Hb22MOkzQEX1qutH8hIS3yPFwXs02p66fzVTB-YgKhxgKCgsQh5cjphI-wBp5KnvRNfvDkmCFgU3O-GThX1aXB7pHrMwnIKkQFHr4I9TpU3Mw/s640/IMG_1868.JPG" width="640" /></a>Ryne is recently engaged to be married, and since he was in town it was the perfect opportunity to celebrate him and his fiancé, Emery. My brother and his wife hosted a party in their honor so that's where we were on Friday night. </div>
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And I loved being with my family again. My brother, Tim, lives here in Arizona but we hardly ever get the chance to visit. I got to see him three times last week and I loved it!!! And I love that Tim and my sweet hubby, Doug, are such good friends. <span style="color: #990000;">♥</span> <br />
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Saturday night involved a third night out (3 nights in a row!) for us to kick off Carrie's birthday weekend. We went to Top Golf and enjoyed the company of our sweet friends Vee & Heath. Here's Doug, swinging a club...<br />
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And all points in between? I was at yoga teacher training...<br />
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And doodling mandalas at yoga teacher training...<br />
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In other news, Doug tore all the walls off of our master bathroom this weekend. It's the only room that hasn't been remodeled since we purchased this home and boy, did it get the treatment this weekend! When he removed the drywall from around the shower there was some crazy growth behind it and at first glance we thought it might be mold. Instead, it was honeycomb from an old bee hive. Eeeow! It will be a while before everything is put back together, but it's fun to see that project started. I know Doug will make it beautiful eventually. :o)<br />
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And now I'm off to take on this new week with some potential changes brewing. You know I'll keep you posted as they take shape.<br />
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In the meantime, today I celebrate the 28th anniversary of becoming Carrie's mom. In all my life I can't think of anything I've loved more than carrying her and birthing her and nursing her and being charged with the raising of her sweet soul in this lifetime. It's been an amazing honor - every bit of it. <br />
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Have a really awesome week, blog friends.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-45758510965492301412016-06-01T05:57:00.000-07:002016-06-01T06:03:45.657-07:00The yoga part of my yoga retreatYou know how I've been blogging all about the yoga retreat I went on in April? How I went all the way to Tulum, Mexico for seven amazing days and had all kinds of fantastic adventures with sweet new friends? Well, there was actually <em>yoga</em> involved as well!<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
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<a href="http://mayatulum.com/" target="_blank">Maya Tulum</a> is the resort where we stayed for our yoga retreat. The resort is on a beautiful beach in Tulum, and they accommodate groups of yogis as well as other vacationing guests. The group of 10 yogis I traveled with had use of the yoga rooms twice a day. (There are two yoga rooms on the grounds of the resort - one small and one large.) Our teachers lead two classes every day - one from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m., and another from 5:30-7:00 p.m.<br />
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In my day-to-day life back home, my own yoga practice has taken a back seat to all the other have-to-do's on my schedule. I practice for about 10 minutes every morning, and it's rare that I'm able to attend a yoga class in a studio setting.<br />
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It was so awesome to be able to practice yoga twice a day, in classes lead by two of my favorite teachers. Jeff and Donna are a married couple, and they are two of the owners of <a href="http://www.innervisionyoga.com/" target="_blank">Inner Vision Yoga</a> in Chandler where I practice and also take my yoga teacher training.<br />
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At the end of the week I decided to have someone take my photo after one of our classes. I think it's kind of a weird photo - I look a lot like my mom in it. My friend Connie left the sweetest comment on my Instagram post. She said, <em>"You don't need no stinkin' makeup! And it looks like you've got a massive greenery halo! So Taurus!"</em> I loved that.<br />
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This was the view from my mat, looking straight up. The large yoga hall was a round building with <br />
the coolest thatched roof and natural wood beams.<br />
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And this is my lovely group of yoga friends (minus one sweetie) with our teachers in front. I put my phone on a stack of yoga blocks and used the timer. This photo was taken after our final yoga class of the week - the morning of the day that we traveled back home.<br />
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This yoga retreat was exactly what I needed! I'm even going to go as far as saying that the week I spent in Tulum was life changing for me. Not in an earth shattering <em>oh-my-God-everything-is-different</em> kind of way, but in a deep soul illuminating way. I was reminded of how much I love practicing yoga in a classroom setting, in addition to my sweet little home yoga space. To be pushed a little past my limits and to practice under the watchful eyes of great teachers felt like such a sweet gift. The retreat helped me to deepen and reconnect with my own yoga practice. <br />
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Some of the adventures I went on pushed me so far out of my comfort zone, I wasn't sure if I'd ever squeeze back into that zone again. And actually, I won't and that's ok. My gosh, just going all the way to Tulum, Mexico without Doug or Carrie was liberating for me!<br />
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Within a few days after I returned home from my retreat, I did something I've been saying I was going to do for over three years now. I went online and filled out an application to volunteer for hospice care. Since then, I've already completed the interview process and I'm scheduled to take their required training course over two weekends in June.<br />
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Being in Tulum on a yoga retreat allowed me to feel what it feels like to really follow my heart's desire. The genie won't go back in the bottle now, and I'm totally fine with that.<br />
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Maybe everything <em>is</em> different now, but the earth hasn't shattered. It just cracked open a little bit for me in the sweetest way, thanks to yoga. I feel incredibly blessed to live this life of mine, and to have had the opportunity to go on such an amazing yoga retreat.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-90501736138233847672016-05-30T07:26:00.000-07:002016-05-30T07:26:30.967-07:00The first two days of our three-day weekend...<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy Memorial Day, blog friends.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Today in the U.S.A we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country ~ men and women who have sacrificed their lives so that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted.<br />
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So, today we have the day off work and this was my view, about 30 minutes ago...</div>
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I just came inside to pull this blog post together after enjoying morning coffee on the patio with Douglas. <span style="color: #990000;">♥ </span><br />
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Let's backtrack to Saturday morning, shall we? My brother, Ron, was in town from Tennessee so we got to spend time with family. Yay! I loved that we kicked off the weekend with yoga, as he (and Carrie) attended my Saturday morning restorative yoga class.<br />
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I also love that he asked Carrie to take a photo of the two of us at the end of class. The class was a little bittersweet for me, as I will no longer be teaching on Saturday mornings for a while. My schedule is changing and I've had so many things on my plate for so long. I had to make a decision to let something go, and the Saturday morning class was it. I feel a little sad about that, but I also trust that something else will come along in the future when the timing is perfect. <br />
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After yoga class, Carrie, Ron and I had lunch together. From there we went our separate ways for a while. Carrie went home, Ron came to our house, and I went grocery shopping. I spent Saturday afternoon preparing for a get together at our house with family. Oh how I loved Saturday!!!<br />
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Our great-nephew, Carter, was here and I did take a few photos of him, but they were mostly like the one shown above. Action shots, if you will... Ha!<br />
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When my sister and her family came to Arizona for Thanksgiving last November, she gifted me with this pretty blue baking dish. I have wanted to make a blueberry cobbler in it ever since. Saturday I did just that! I made it early in the day then popped it in the oven right after dinner. I had made the fixings for a taco bar for dinner, and Doug grilled chicken and shrimp for the fillers. Ooooh, dinner was yummy! And then dessert...<em>yummmmmmmm</em>! Yes, there was vanilla ice cream on top too. <br />
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And then yesterday...<br />
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Pajama day, all day long.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em> ~sigh~</em></span> Oh my gosh, it was so nice to have a lazy day - something I have not done in forever. Doug napped on the couch, and I lounged at the other end finishing a book I've been working my way through for months. I was about half-way through with "Eat, Love, Pray" and I read for hours yesterday to finish the book. I loved it! The book and the relaxation time. <br />
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And now a whole new week with a couple of days off in the mix! I'm heading out to a yoga class this morning, and then I'll take care of my typical weekend stuff that wasn't done yesterday because I was in my pajamas. ;o) We have more family gatherings to look forward to at the end of the week, and I'll have Friday off to enjoy the festivities. And next weekend we'll kick off our annual celebration of Carrie's birth week. So much to look forward to!<br />
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Wishing you a week filled with so many blessings that you lose count!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-66830669492608011312016-05-26T06:01:00.002-07:002016-05-26T06:02:34.982-07:00Zip-lining and swimming in a bat cave ~ Adventures on my mom's birthdayAs my yoga retreat trip to Mexico neared, I wondered if I'd have an opportunity to go zip-lining. Any time I'd ever seen that activity on TV, I always mentioned to Doug that I would love to do that someday. Well, I got my chance in Mexico!<br />
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These photos were all taken in the Punta Laguna reserve, and you can read more about the area by clicking <a href="http://puntalagunamexico.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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After hiking through the jungle, looking for monkeys and being blessed by a Mayan shaman, we came to a clearing with a beautiful lagoon.<br />
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Here we were met by a crew who was waiting with harnesses and helmets. Stuff got real right there.<br />
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Yikes. I think I was fine and fairly excited until the harness got strapped on and I realized that - OMG - I was <em>really</em> going to do this. I was going to hang from a hook attached to a metal line and propel myself across the water and into the jungle. Free falling, baby. Holy smokes.<br />
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And here was another first for me. I'd never been in a canoe before. It wasn't as tippy as I thought it might be, and the two sweeties rowing knew what they were doing. I was appointed as the captain and was supposed to call out <em>"Stroke"</em> over and over but, sheesh, that got boring in a hurry so I stopped and asked, <em>"Really? Do I really need to do that?"</em> No, I didn't in this case.<br />
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By the way, these photos were borrowed from my friend and fellow traveler, Linda. She was brave and kept her camera/phone with her, but I'd left mine behind at the dock, regrettably.<br />
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After the canoe trip across the lagoon, we hiked through the jungle for about 10 minutes to reach the zip-line platform. Jose, the monkey guide was also our zip-line man.<br />
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I was super excited and my adrenaline levels had to be off the charts right here! The worst part was the "brake" they gave us to hold - a crude stick with a hook at one end. We were warned to put the brake on <em>behind</em> the attachment on the wire or it would come back and smack us in the face. Duly noted. And when I had last minute questions about the "brake" just before take-off, I was told, <em>"Oh, just don't even worry about the brake. They'll catch you on the other end. Go!"</em><br />
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Well, I didn't use the brake and they did catch me at the end. Worse part was that as soon as I cleared the tree line and flew out over the water my body turned and I rode the whole rest of the way backwards. Everything happened so fast, and I wasn't able to turn myself around so the catchers caught me coming in backwards and all was well.<br />
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When I was unstrapped and stepped off the landing platform, someone mentioned that if we wanted to have another turn we could. It would just require hiking back through the jungle, same way we'd gone in. I barely hesitated before asking one of my yoga friends if she'd like to hike and zip again with me. Yep! So we hiked and re-zipped and that time I flew straight in and used my brake and called, <em>"WOOOO-HOOOO!"</em> pretty much the entire zip across. <br />
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High-fives all around!</div>
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Part two of this post involves me going down into this hole in the ground...<br />
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Oh my goodness, it makes me squirmy to look at these photos again. This was not my favorite part of my Mexico adventures, though I am glad I did it. We had an opportunity to swim in an underground cenote, complete with a 40' ladder, one bare light bulb to illuminate the cave, and a bunch of little tiny bats hanging from the walls.<br />
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I look at this next photo - the only one of me in the cenote - and I'm shocked to see a smile on my face. I think I was still high from the zip-lining, and clearly delirious. Ha! I wanted to be one of the first ones to go down, fearing that if I stood up top long enough I might lose my nerve. We were still wearing our zip-line harnesses and those were used to rappel us down into the water - very convenient.<br />
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Phew! The water was cold at first, and it was fairly dark down there. The water looked black, and I was surprised when I looked down that I could clearly see my feet below me, and then <em>nothing</em> beyond my toes. No one seemed clear about how deep that water was.<br />
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Once my entire group had made it down the shoot and into the water, I was the first to volunteer to get out. The hook was re-attached to my zip-line harness, but only used as a measure of catching me should I slip and fall off that 40' ladder. That was one heck of a climb straight up, and I was super happy to emerge back at the top!<br />
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And that's a photo taken by me, standing on the sidelines before any of my friends came out of the cenote. I'm really glad I got to experience that, and it is officially checked of my bucket-list as an item that does not need to be revisited. <br />
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My friends knew that this day was my mom's birthday. I was so touched when one of them said to me, late in the day, "Your mom would be so proud of you." I softly replied, "She always was."<br />
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Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-66662837296128129272016-05-25T05:53:00.000-07:002016-05-25T05:53:16.951-07:00Monkeys and a Mayan Shaman ~ Adventures on my mom's birthdayToday I'm continuing my recap of the amazing day I spent touring with my yoga friends in Tulum, Mexico. After climbing Coba ruins and having lunch at a great Mexican restaurant, we enjoyed a van ride through some crazy thick jungle roads and ended up at <a href="http://puntalagunamexico.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Punta Laguna, Mexico</a> - The Spider Monkey Reserve.<br />
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There was this cute little museum near the entrance but there wasn't much time to linger there. We changed into our swimsuits, slathered on sun screen and hit the trail.<br />
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I'm super happy I thought to snap this next photo, because no way would I have remembered the name of this place. You can read more about it <a href="http://puntalagunamexico.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh translates to "home of the spider monkey and puma." The reserve is overseen by the local Mayan community members who serve as tour guides into the jungle. This was such an amazing experience - to walk through the jungle with a local guide, whose deep love and respect for his culture and this jungle was infectious.<br />
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Before entering into the jungle, visitors are led through a purification ceremony. The ceremony was conducted by a Mayan shaman and this was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced!<br />
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We were led in a single file line, walked around this structure and stood in a half-circle, side-by-side. The scent of coba incense (now a familiar fragrance as our resort burned the same stuff) was wafting through the air. I snapped the above photo as we were taking our places. You <em>know</em> I was dying to take more photos, but once the ceremony began I felt it would be disrespectful to do so.<br />
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The Mayan shaman began his ritual and I seriously had goose bumps the entire time. Ah! I just felt them again as I typed this. The chant he recited was a dialect unlike anything I'd ever heard. His voice boomed through the jungle as his practiced hands tended to the burning incense and tied-up bundles of plant clippings in front of him.<br />
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He lifted a bowl made from a hollowed out coconut shell over his head and chanted words before handing it to the first person in our line. It was filled with some kind of honey-tasting liquid and we each took a sip before carefully passing it to the person beside us. When it reached the last person, the shaman met it there, and chanted some more before receiving the bowl back into his hands.<br />
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There was also something in a bowl that the shaman sprinkled on each of us individually, making his way down the line. He held the bowl in one hand, and a bundle of leaves in the other. Dipping the tips of the leaves in the bowl, he'd recite some words as he tapped our forehead with the damp bundle, and then the front of each shoulder (eh-hm, breast).<br />
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After the ceremony we were free to move into the jungle. There was such a deep sense of reverence after the ritual, a feeling of belonging and permission to proceed into sacred territory. Really, one of the most amazing things I've ever had the opportunity to witness. <br />
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The reserve's archeological site consists of a total of 36 structures that are pretty much engulfed by the jungle. These date back to 300 BC - 250 AD. It was so fascinating to imagine what these buildings might have been used for. Mayans constructed these buildings for temples and trade, while the village people lived in huts made from plant material. <br />
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Our monkey-tour-guide, Jose was a sweet Mayan man with a limited English vocabulary, but we got by just fine. At one point we stopped and he asked us to be quiet as he called out to the spider monkeys. Cupping his hands in front of his mouth, he let out some sounds like I'd never heard before. So fun!<br />
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We were there in the early afternoon, and the heat of the day was a time when the monkeys are less active. We did finally see some on our hike, but it was difficult to photograph them. They were high up in the trees, and the jungle was so thick. All the photos I took of them (and there were a lot) were more focused on the leaves of trees closest to me, rather than the monkeys. Oh well. <br />
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There's another Mayan structure in the photo above. Can you see it?<br />
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After walking through the jungle for a while, our path opened up to this clearing and a beautiful lagoon. I was awe struck at its beauty! It was here that we prepared for our zip-lining adventure, taking those canoes to the other side of the lagoon to reach the zip-line platform. I'm going to save the photos from that adventure for my next post, so the rest of the photos in this post show how we wrapped up our day.<br />
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Walking back through the jungle, we found a picnic area where we enjoyed a late lunch. All that walking and trying to find monkeys in the thick of the jungle, and then here was this guy, just hanging out in the picnic area. I thought maybe he was there to scavenge leftovers but no. The monkeys don't come near people, and they really enjoy their own diet of fruit from the trees. <br />
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Our tour guide, Cesar, supplied us with cheese, tomatoes, chips and guacamole and white wine.<br />
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And our resort had packed us each a lunch of our choice. I enjoyed a tuna salad, chips and fresh fruit. So delicious!<br />
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Jungle randomness:<br />
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And more monkeys on our walk back to the van. They were a family, and one of them is holding a little baby. ♥<br />
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Our tour guides took such great care of us! We were so grateful. And it was so cool at the end of our day to give their small village our left over sandwiches, fruit and drinks. They were so grateful in return!<br />
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Oh how I loved hiking through the jungle, receiving a Mayan blessing, and looking for cute spider monkeys with my yoga friends! I'll share about our zip-lining and cave swimming adventures in my next post. </div>
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Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-89792091931382305312016-05-24T05:37:00.001-07:002016-05-24T05:40:33.246-07:00Adventures on my mom's birthday ~ food stop after Coba ruinsOur tour guide, <a href="http://authentictourstulum.com/" target="_blank">Cesar</a> is an entrepreneur in Tulum, Mexico. An outgoing and charismatic young man, he has many friends and acquaintances whom he feels a responsibility toward. It's his mission to help his community flourish and succeed, and he uses his tour guide business to provide for his locals every chance he gets.<br />
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After <a href="http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/2016/05/adventures-on-my-moms-birthday-coba.html" target="_blank">our time climbing Coba ruins</a>, we loaded in the van and drove a short distance to this restaurant, owned and operated by friends of Cesar. In hindsight I wish I'd taken so many more photos! Truth is that I was hot and tired and really hungry, so here's what I have to share today.<br />
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We piled out of the van and made our way up the stairs to the second floor of this adorable restaurant. Cesar spoke to the employees in Spanish, ordering tapas for our group and sharing animated conversation in the mix.<br />
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Don't you love the bright green chairs and those fun tablecloths?<br />
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Ooooh these were the best chips and salsa! Everything was homemade and so fresh!<br />
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My lovely yoga friends... <em>Cheers!</em></div>
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Fresh coconuts and bottled water. So refreshing!<br />
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Oh my goodness, that coconut was the coldest and most refreshing drink I had the entire week of my yoga retreat! They chill the coconuts and chop the top off just before serving. It stayed ice-cold all the way through lunch. At your request, they'll take the coconut back to the kitchen and bust it open for you, serving the opened fruit on a plate with wedges of lime. I didn't do that with mine - I was too full to even think about it by the time our lunch was over.<br />
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And there was this guacamole and the best tortilla chips ever...<br />
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And quesadillas served on homemade flour tortillas with a creamy cheese (not sure what kind of cheese it was other than yummy) and fresh shrimp. I ate my fill!<br />
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Continuing the celebration of my mom's birthday. She loved good Mexican food, and I know she would have loved this place! As I prepared this post I realized that, <em>Hey! Seems like we didn't have that much food here!</em> But we did. Cesar had been ready to order a few meat dishes but we chose the lighter fare. We had several rounds/refills of chips, salsa, and guacamole so we were fairly well stuffed! <br />
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In hindsight I realize we were all a bit overheated from climbing the ruins. Oh how we loved our simple and refreshing coconut drinks...<br />
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After lunch we loaded back into the van and headed deep into the jungle in search of spider monkeys in their natural habitat. But that's for my next post...<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥ </span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882176416659082850.post-70709474676502868182016-05-23T06:30:00.002-07:002016-05-23T08:21:01.032-07:00Around here this weekend<div style="text-align: center;">
Good day, blog friends!</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span> </div>
I loved this weekend so much! It was a weekend full of house stuff - repairs and tidying up and a little nesting vibe to go along with it. Come on in...<br />
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Things are heating up around here, and it's been fun to watch where the light falls during our first trip around the sun here in our new home. And for me that means learning which angles work best for photographing sunflowers. :o) We're also enjoying the growth of our new Japanese privet trees. They have these beautiful plumes of blossoms on them that smell Heavenly! <br />
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I had a hair appointment after work on Friday so that threw off our Friday-night-date-night routine. After my appointment I grabbed some teriyaki take-out and we stayed in for date night. Doug won a few games of pool, although I'm going to document right here that I took some really great shots! It would take a whole lot of time and practice for me to be as skilled as Douglas, but I'm working on it. <br />
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Super exciting news for the weekend is that we had another row of block added to our backyard fence, a short wall for the turtle pen, and columns on the side of the house for a gate for Doug's work trailer. Progress!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHh9uzM21UIkkapJlDxnxmx_PcD-cX38X9lTBWxywk7FGRxpkza7iZy3FYQL7F2EuDPiNy-p50EPSjqKTHdF6Qq-DGBKsXnUk5onKE4YXzDZQjuTzAKRIHKgSWcgAvGt9HVyCiEYEto0/s1600/IMG_1641+weekend.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHh9uzM21UIkkapJlDxnxmx_PcD-cX38X9lTBWxywk7FGRxpkza7iZy3FYQL7F2EuDPiNy-p50EPSjqKTHdF6Qq-DGBKsXnUk5onKE4YXzDZQjuTzAKRIHKgSWcgAvGt9HVyCiEYEto0/s640/IMG_1641+weekend.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That turtle statue was a gift from my dear mother-in-law. His name is Chip. </td></tr>
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The photo above is the before shot of the far corner in our backyard. The original fences in this neighborhood were short, and a previous owner of our home added one row of blocks to the back wall, leaving the gap you see on the left and not matching the original block. Sigh. Why?<br />
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The fence guys arrived at our house at 5:45 on Saturday morning! {So sorry, dear neighbors!} Tradesmen here in Arizona start really early this time of year in order to beat the heat. It was really fun to watch these guys work. Not only were they skilled in their trade, but they were having a fun time working together. For the 5-6 hours they were here there was laughter and jovial voices in our backyard. I loved that!<br />
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I asked, "Is it ok to take a picture?" and one responded, "You gonna' put us on YouTube?" and they all laughed.<br />
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Here's a photo of the "after" work...<br />
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The left wall (that we share with neighbors) got the tan block, and we had them add the gray block along the back (there's an alley behind it). Doug is going to paint the walls so it will all eventually blend in. That added row of block made such a difference in defining our backyard space. We love it! <br />
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So that all happened in our backyard on Saturday, and this happened in the front yesterday...<br />
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We have two trees in our front yard - palo verde tree and a mesquite. They tend to get very bushy - with lots of growth on the lower part of the trees and that blocks the view of our house front. While Doug worked yesterday (yep, Sunday painting at a medical building) I got the clippers and went to work on the trees out front. I did take a photo of the great big pile of branches but it's not blog worthy. <br />
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That was a lot of clipping and I'm feeling it this morning. I have a few sore muscles and some scratches from the wicked thorns the palo verde sports. Desert plants are no joke. I need to call the city today to schedule a pick-up for the pile of thorny branches on our front curb.<br />
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And this happened this weekend:<br />
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We had the fence guys construct a wall around our turtle pen. Now we need to have a wrought iron fence with a gate added to the top so Lucky can't jump in there. It doesn't look like much yet, but just you wait and see!<br />
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I don't usually cut my sunflowers to bring inside, but yesterday it seemed like a good idea.<br />
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I think I'll take these to work with me this morning and enjoy them there for the next few days.<br />
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Ahhh... a whole new week ahead of us... It's going to be a busy one for me, with family coming in to town for the weekend, plus next Monday off for Memorial Day. Yay!<br />
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I plan to bust out the rest of my posts featuring my yoga retreat in Mexico over the next few days, so there will be a bit more activity here on PaperTurtle this week. I'm feeling a push to get them out there so I can move on from blogging about a vacation that happened four weeks ago. <br />
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Wishing you peace, love and sunshine this week and always.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">♥</span></div>
Deb @ PaperTurtlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00957816023851249171noreply@blogger.com8