Colorful collage

Collage and artwork by Lucie Duclos is a delightful mix of textures and colors. I love it. Her Instagram.

Preparations

Lots going on here, cleaning and getting ready for family, caterers, permits, trying to get organized (ha ha ha). I collect my sister today. Then my second mom, mom's best friend, Ruth and my S-I-L coming soon. The status of my brother-in-law coming is still unknown. So far we have about 70 people coming to the memorial and I am working on my little speech the next couple of days. Lots of stuff twirling in my head.

Had my first brush with Medicare insurance, Walgreens and trying pickup prescriptions. They say I am not covered. So I had to do a lot of searching today. As of yesterday my prescription total was very high. Hoping to get that fixed today.

Shimmering insects

Charidotella sexpunctata, the golden tortoise beetle, is a species of beetle in the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae. It is native to the Americas.

Man Finds Rare Mirror-Like Scarab Beetle While on a Stroll. Chrysina limbata is a species of scarab beetle found in the tropical rainforests of Central America, including Costa Rica, and Mexico. It is in the genus Chrysina, in the subfamily Rutelinae (shining leaf chafers).[2] It is notable for its metallic reflective silver color.

The rest are random beautiful beetles I found on Pinterest

A Three Hour Tour

This is fantastic! I needed a laugh. 

Thanksgiving OVER

The kids hosted a great Thanksgiving dinner. I made dressing and was not happy with either that I made. I swear I am going to give up cooking. It brings me no joy. 

Spent a couple of hours with the kids, the dogs and family-in-law, then came home. I felt  exhausted.

Spent most of yesterday working on David's memorial slideshow and music. That made me pretty emotional but it must be done. Memorial is very soon. I have people coming in 5 days! I am having anxiety attacks. 

Today I am going to go pick out some carpet for the downstairs bedroom. They said they can install it next week. So ... onward.

Hope everyone had a great, relaxing Thanksgiving.

I felt very alone yesterday when I realized that all of these people are now gone. Must not think that way and focus on who is still here.

Totally totem

I LOVE totems!

Hidden treasures

I am making cornbread for dressing and discovered two NEW cast-iron skillets hidden in among the many, many old cast-iron skillets we own. Guess who?

David saying hello again ;)

Sitting pretty

I still have my chair obsession. I had so many chairs around here to paint, wonder where they all went? Lots of fun chairs by various designers.

A fresh coat

I am furiously working on the upstairs bedroom that was painted. Have worn down two toothbrushes and gone through lots of toothpicks cleaning the windows and baseboards. Ten years of God knows what spilled on them. 

Having a tough time deciding what to do with David's clothes. There are still lots of toys in there, I guess we will just live with that for now. 

Why does a coat of paint make everything feel better?

Twin talent

I am always blown away by the incredible work of the Balbusso Twins! Their Instagram.

Anna and Elena Balbusso twins are an internationally team of Italian artists. Their work has been published by major international publishers and companies through out the world. Together they have illustrated over 50 books including the award-winning Folio Society edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. 

What can I say? Extreme talent X TWO.