Noury's Creative World…

It is not how long I live, but what I do with the time I have while I have it.

This morning I was reading in my local newspaper a lovely, and sad story of an eight year-old-sweet girl who died recently of a brain tumor.  What caused to make an impression on me, and one that I will never forget, was a phrase that she used when she and her family were standing at a fountain and throwing in coins and making wishes at the same time.  She held onto the coin her father had given her.  She said “I have everything I want.”

It was an incredibly enlightened moment for me.  I looked around my living dinning area that was so bright at that moment from the sunbeams coming through my many windows, and I thought, wow, it has taken this young lady’s wisdom, even after she has died, to remind me of my many blessings.  I am not talking material things right now, I am referring to the beautiful sun rays coming through the windows and making me feel very fortunate to be present at that moment.

Those of you who know me personally know that I have been trying to move to Florida for well over a year now.  I get so cold, that sometimes it is unbearable for me during the winter season to be comfortable or happy even inside my house.  Turning up the heat does not help.  Static galore and every time I touch something, I get second degree electric shocks.  But after reading that phrase from sweet little Meg, I realized that I have been putting my life on pause for over a year, when I already have right now all that I want.  What I need to learn is how to deal with the issue of freezing to death during the winters.  I need to figure that out.

The “life is greener (in this case, warmer) on the other side of I-95,”  is a myth I need to debunk.  I could die right now waiting for my house to sell, and waiting to be warmer, waiting to continue with my dreams…  etc., so in the next two months the wait will be over, I have decided today.  Thanks little Meg.

This is a close-up of the tiny flowers of a pear tree,  taken from the one at the beginning of the post.  I took the picture this morning during my walkabout. Just magnificent.  “I have everything I want.”

Stop to look around you, this is a magnificent universe.  Thank you God!

Your Happy Contessa

 P.S. Not too bad of a picture from a $79 cheap chic camera!

Dreams, plans, money, friendships, relationships, plans for the day…etc., etc.  You name it, most of the things in our lives have a possibility of eventually going down the drain.  Mine has some coffee stains, but it shows that at least I use it.  Life might as well be like my sink, with some stains here and there, but still serves its purposes.

No, I am not down today, or maybe I am.  I don’t remember seeing the word  “perfect” next to my name on my birth certificate.  So I have my days on which I ponder more deeply than others.  Today is one of those days.  Let me clarify.  Not 100%, it is a semi-deep pondering day. 

I think I have an idea why.  My favorite college basketball men’s team (Duke Blue Devils) lost last night.  It is not the fact that they lost, it is to whom they lost the game to and the margin of loss.  I am still trying to recover from that “what just happened” moment.  I couldn’t even look at the Sports Section of our newspaper this morning.  It hit the recycling bin like it had some contaminated material on it. 

This anecdote is totally unrelated to this posting.  When my daughter decided to accept to attend Duke University, I thought, oh my, my daughter is going to attend a school that has a devil as a mascot.  Lots of prayers here.  But to rationalize this situation better, I consoled myself by thinking “well, at least it is a blue devil, it couldn’t be that bad.”  Me and my ignorant universe.

Now going back to the slow energy moody day,  it has been a blessed rainy day.  We badly need the rain, so remember the pros and cons of life.  I miss my sunbeam.  Please come to visit me tomorrow.  Need that doses of cheerful stuff you have in your sun rays.

I can relate the parallel of drainage to my life.  It is there to help me clean stuff, and to discard and shred others on as-needed basis.  Thanks God for drains, and for the other just repaired garbage disposal.  One turn of a switch and there it goes all the discards in a jifty.  Where is that switch on my parallel universe.  I could use it right now.

This is the right side angle view of my lanai.  Not bad at all, even on a rainy day.  Just wanted to share with you.

With hopes of uplifting my aura to a brighter blue color,  because I just found out that the women’s bb team won their division championship.  With that happy note, I remain

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  Went to have dinner at Whole Foods with Miss Raylene and Mr. Richard last Saturday night, before the colossal collapse of the Blue Devils.  I really enjoyed my curried chicken, ultra delicious;  basmati rice and some meat that right now I cannot recall its name, it was very hot, spicy hot).  I am always putting new stuff on my plate to experiment.  Diversity is the spice of life.  I feel better already.  Thanks guys for allowing me to hang around with both of you.  By the way, did you win the lottery?  I am on standby.  Dessert?  Key lime tartlet.  Oh my!

I am starting to appreciate the benefits of living in a small southern town.  Slow pace, no stress traffic, even at the big “W” I have many “amigas” because it was starting to get complicated to remember everyone’s name. 

When grocery shopping, I would hear my name being called, I would turn around, hug the person smiling at me, mostly a female, (in the Hispanic culture we hug a lot, in the coming in and in the going out), and if it is a male, a handshake would do, but if I know the individual well, he is also worthy of a hug.  After the hug,  my neurons start searching desperately for the name of the individual.   In the meantime if there are children involved, hi sweetie would do.  But the person whose name I am trying to remember starts carrying on a conversation, and I am in total limbo.  I am afraid to say much, because it may hint this person that I really don’t know her and what’s going on.  I read once that it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are dumb, than open it, and remove any doubt.  That’s my mantra in these situations.  Sometimes we talk for a while, and I am still searching, and the time to say goodbye arrives, and we hug again, and there she goes and there I go, still scanning the disappearing neurons.  Minutes or hours go by and then Bingo, I remember the face and the name to go with it.  Too many happy birthdays.

Forgot, the picture above was at the beginning of my journey this morning.  Stop at the Post Office.  Beautiful sight of a cherry blossom.  Good start.  Then on my way to the town next door, I came out of my car, parked on a dirt road and took these.

The dirt roads are part of the scenery here in this area of the country.  No problem.  I would do somewhat whatever it takes to give you my friend readers a good perspective of what I do to go and pay bills, and have fun on the way.  I am loving this taking pictures and letting you appreciate the uniqueness of this area.

I just love these old almost falling apart buildings in the country side.  There are so many of them.  Remember my primitive decoy.  I just love rustic things because there is so much history behind them.

And these are at the parking lot of my specialty market.  That’s where I get my special meats, sweet potatoes, and other things that are just special.  Whole Foods is for the extra special.  As you can deduct, I have degrees of special things in my life.  It makes it more diverse for me.  Anything to keep from getting bored with FOOD.  Here also they know me somewhat. 

The problem with this issue of places of “where everybody knows you and your name” is a two edge sword, at least for me.  Benefit is that you get great service and extra things, but on the other hand, I need to make sure that I always look my best, even for the guys at the Produce Department.  It helps to get the lead on what’s good or they go to the back room to get something fresher for me.  It is not easy to keep appearances.  Dark glasses don’t help much anymore.  They got used to seeing me wearing them.  No incognito business for me in this town .  Wouldn’t it be nice if all my problems would boil down to these my petty situations.  I am glad my life is so simple.

Pros…Cons…but come to think of it, that’s the yin and the yang of life.

 I don’t know why the following part of A Tale of Two Cities came to mind.  I have not read the book, but have come across this phrase from it a few times…

” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. . . .”

With all of that in mind,

Make it a very happy and joyful weekend.  See you next Monday!

Your Happy Contessa

 

and sometimes we are the only keeper of that story.  I was thinking back when I bought this decoy.  It does not have any markings, it has seen better days, but it was my favorite among the three I purchased that day at an estate sale in Florida in the late 90’s.  There was a table full of them.  They seemed so beautiful and I was pulled to the table every so often.  I gravitated back and forth.  The owner of these decoys perceived my interest and came to me and told me I could have a discount if I decided to buy one or more.  I told him I would think about it.  At that time we used to own the bookstore, and my excuse to get them was for resale.  But I really liked them.

Have you had a moment such as the one described before?  What was the appeal of these decoys?  Maybe I thought the time and effort that went into making them, all hand-made and what was the person doing it thinking at that time.  You could tell they were made with love and care, because the surface is very smooth, except the one above.  I don’t know why I like it the best, maybe it was the primitiveness in that decoy.  Maybe it is a reflection of myself.  I have come a long way and I think I have some ways to go until I get that gentler and softer personality.  When my feathers won’t get ruffled just because.

These two have markings and I am sure they are more valuable.  They were made in the 40’s or 50’s according to the research I have made. 

Back at the estate sale, finally I decided to get these three.  Ron was trying to make me see that the profit ratio was not worth the investment for resale purpose.  As usual, I didn’t say anything and I think he already knew that I was going to get them anyway.  I made the guy an offer for the trio and he upped it a bit, and all of us were happy.  Ron then said, because he didn’t like to spend money too much, “are you ready to leave, honey,” to which I responded “no, there a few more things I need to see.”   Then he took my precious decoys back to the car (he was very good at taking care of the merchandise, whatever it was we purchased), and then I made a few more selections of other items,  paid for them,  and we left.  When we got to the store, he was taking them out, and I asked him if we could enjoy them for a few days at home before selling them.  No problem, he said.

The few days went by and as you can tell, they never saw the lights of the bookstore.  There is something about these decoys that I cannot explain.  I have a indescribable attachment to them.  Could it be because I have made up a story in my mind about their peaceful appearance, and maybe because they remind me about a saying “peaceful and serene on the surface, but paddle like hell underneath.”  That’s what I call grace.  That’s it.  It is them portraying the picture of grace and peace.

Finally I figured it out after so many years.  Look around your surroundings and try to see the objects and people around you with a different approach.  You’ll be amazed at how the story is told, with new eyes.

I will leave you again with another beautiful sight of the season, in Miss Raylene’s neighborhood, when we were walking this morning.  The beauty of nature always manages to take my breath away.  This is a pear tree in all its splendor.

You make it a happy one and continue to be alert for signs of beautiful things of the season.

Your Happy Contessa

 

 F O O D

What did you think I was going to say?  I thought about this posting because I was at my grocery store this morning. Remember that I always write this post the day before, because I am kind of slow in thinking things out, and I need at least 24 hours to come up with something to talk about.  Let’s go back to the title…I saw a woman and in her  shopping cart there was so much stuff (I am still trying to find a synonym for animal discards, but still need to buy that book) that is not good for you.  That confirms the fact, I am talking about the stuff in her cart, that we on this planet, because it is not only the United States of America,  are on denial.  We have in our country alone a 35% of the population in an obese status. 

I know that our age group population is on the “I am having a good time” syndrome, because every time we see or talk to our friends, one of our circle or somebody else’s circle has converted into faster energy.  That should not be an excuse to eat crapola.  There you have it.  A new word to get it across, without being crude.  I think vulgarity is like pollution to the eyes that read it and to the ears that hear it.  Life’s short, make it pretty.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  My house is not a “crapola free zone.”  There is the usual junk in case I get really desperate before midnight.  No ice cream, cake, bread, butter, and other regulars in my fridge though, unless it is given to me.  Then I indulge in having some heart palpitations because of the sugar intake.

Recently my brother and sister-in-law took me to Whole Foods.  I love that place.  Good food, and a feast for the eyes.  We had been talking about some individuals that are sick, or some of them that have joined our Creator.  After that conversation, the rebellious in me was acting up, but I didn’t know how to deal with it.  Because every time I converse with my friends, that’s where the conversations end up with.  So after we had dinner, I went into the supermarket area to grab my favorite olive oil, the 356 house brand, cheap and good also.  But suddenly I felt like I deserved better, because you never know when that moment is going to hit you and when it happens it is too late to do anything.  So I thought,  I am going to get the most expensive olive oil in the store, because you never know and I deserve it.  I felt liberated and very, very happy.  I felt fabulous!!

So going back to our National dilemma, our food intake is a choice.  Do we want to send greasy stuff down our pipes that is only going to stick to our vessels, or do we watch what we ingest.  Healthy eating habit is a deliberate choice we make every time we put our hands or forks into a piece of “this looks so good.”

I am from the school of thought that just as “they” put that stuff in cigarettes (Ron died of lung cancer) to hook you, so “they” are putting stuff in our food to make us crave the crapola in the aisles of the grocery stores.  I try to be selective, even though it is not that easy. 

The ultimatum I give myself is “it is either the addictive stuff or my skinny jeans.”  A shout out to vanity.  It is very good to keep away from becoming a statistic and joining the heavenly bodies before our time is due.  Or worse yet, schlepping around an extreme amount of weight.

I know that there is not guarantee that because I try to eat healthy, I will live longer.  I know that.  I can evaporate tomorrow, but today I am doing my best for my skinny jeans. 

I will leave you today with a picture of my local library as it looked this morning when I went in for a moment to volunteer.  Magnificent, isn’t it.  Beautiful tree and a beautiful looking day.  It is good to be here and in the now.

Make it a happy one and enjoy the sights and sounds around you.

Your Happy Contessa

I can hardly believe that March is here already.  It is fascinating to see how fast time goes by, especially if you have had many, many happy birthdays.  I have six decades+ under my belt.  Do I wear a belt?  Maybe four times a year.  The area between waist and other places has kind of disappeared.  Now it looks sometimes as one roly poly.  Let’s go back to March.

Third month of the year…what’s the hurry?  I am not going anywhere, but it seems as the bills are in a hurry always to be paid.  Right at the beginning of the month I already know what’s left for my fun time.  Hardly can afford any fun.  Complain..complain…and more complaints.  I don’t have a cat, a dog, and the daughter lives far away, so I don’t have anyone to exchange sorrows and have pity parties with.  You are it.  So bear with me today.

Word counter nanobeing is showing that I have a lot of more typing to do to make this a decent post.  Pressure, and more pressure.

Going back to March, so there’s only nine months left of the year (I am pretending that March is almost over, because my checking account feels that way).  Before we know it, the jingle things will be on the radio and everybody will try to be very, very happy with joy, because the season will give them an opportunity to spend money at that time and then back to January, February, March to pay those bills, …but wait, this is only the beginning of March.  What did they put in the water this morning?  Need to buy a new filter for my water jar.  For how long has the filter been in that jar.  I cannot remember when I put it there.  Ignorance is bliss.

Now, really going back to March.  The green wearing day is rapidly approaching, spring is trying to break through these monstrosity of winds we are having, grass still looks like manure discard, but there is always hope.  There is a song called “The Waters of March.”  I have in English and Portuguese.  Prefer the Portuguese version, because some of the words can be interpreted as cause for depression, but in Portuguese, the whole thing sounds so pretty, because I don’t understand most of it.  Music is lovely, forget about the lyrics.  It works for me.

And the word counter nanobeing is getting pleasantly happy.  Words are somewhat abundant, and the mood of the typist has some degree of high expectancy for today, I don’t know of what, but right now I feel good, ta ra ra ra ra ra!  Remember that song?  That’s a good one to start the day, or afternoon or whatever pleases you.  I am going to look it up on Itune.  Ninety nine cents buys a lot of happiness sometimes.  That’s what it costs to download the song.

March…need to finish that quilt, do my taxes, send some letters and cards, clean some parts of the house, and yes, pay bills.  Taxes and death you cannot escape, someone said.  I would add bills to the duo. 

Let’s go back to being in a good mood.  We are all breathing, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this post, and my hands would not be typing.  My mother used to say that as long as air is coming in and out of those two little holes on your face (nose) you are ok.  On that note, I am obliged to say…

Make it a very happy one!

Your Happy Contessa

These are some of the sights of my walkabout on Monday with Miss Raylene in her neighborhood…  Forsythia: any of a genus of ornamental shrubs of the olive family with opposite leaves and yellow bell-shaped flowers appearing before the leaves in early spring.  I didn’t know that.  My buddy Webster just defined it for us.

The one on the left is from Miss Raylene’s front yard.  I will call it a bush with pretty berries.  One on the right is a pear tree with its buds already all happy to be seen and looking forward to spring.  Then a few steps further…

On the right, because left does not need explanation…is what Miss Raylene and I think was a baby snake that didn’t make it home that day.  Crossing the road that day was probably taking a big risk.  Do not be upset.  Life and death are part of our beautiful nature also.  The circle of life.

I have titled this one…Monet’s field of lavender.  They are really weeds, but they don’t know that and are happy to look beautiful.  Maybe Monet had a field of weeds that looked just like this one, just taller and that was his inspiration (I am kidding).

The majestic pine trees on the left and the close-up look at one of their trunk and its bark.  Amazing, isn’t it. 

A happy to go with the flow wind sock I purchased at the $ Store.  Now we are back in my backyard.

This one is a tall tree fully covered with red berries.  I don’t know its name, but it looks pretty in contrast with its surroundings.  They look like berries from far away, maybe they are buds.

 Now you may understand why I enjoy my walkabout at the outdoors.  You never know what you are going to find or hear.  I always keep my eyes, my mind and my ears open to possibilities.  They are everywhere.  It is good for my lungs and my oxygen intake. 

I will say farewell for today with another shot of my happy to be around wind sock, full of gratitude and joy for the very windy day.

Your Happy Contessa

P.S.  It is easier when we go with the flow.  Simple and very profound.

I should be pretty content with my life right now.  I have enough to cover my bills and needs, and I give myself a little allowance for fun…but no, sometimes I feel I should be doing something more than just the things that I am doing at this moment in my life.  I am this kind of restless person that is not satisfied with the status quo.  I need to improve, fix, invent, always in search for something new and meaningful to do.  I guess I’ll be like that until that day when I convert to faster energy.  In the meantime, I looking to create a new business.  Some of the cards you see above, all of them have my name or personal data covered because popularity and fame have knocked on my door already and it gives me a sense of feeling uncomfortable.  Reality show?  Don’t need one.  I have my own.  Thank you very much.  Going back to the cards, one day my lovely daughter put together a bundle of business cards of businesses I had been involved with at that time.  It was quite a good number.  So I figure, I was born a natural entrepreneur. 

I am searching for what else to do, but it has to be meaningful and with a purpose greater than me.  Besides making money to cover expenses, I am going to adopt a cause (I have always done this before, because you don’t need a lot of money to share your blessings), and I am thinking about the cause against domestic abuse.  I remember when I used to volunteer with a social services agency in Virginia, I had to take a young woman who was being abused by her ignorant, and alcoholic husband to a shelter in the middle of the night.  Taking her there left an impression in me that I will never forget as long as I live.  That’s why I am considering victims of domestic violence.

You see, there’s more to me than the empty-headed with many happy birthdays person I might seem to be to you sometimes.  I can be pretty, pretty serious when the occasion arises.  Most of the time I take things very lightly because as I told recently a friend of mine, angels can fly because they take themselves very lightly.

Going back to my search for a new idea for a business.  I love books, and a friend suggested selling them on the internet.  Hi Lindsay.  But, and this is a big but…if the big B is going out of business, I am getting the message in neon lights that there is too much competition in that field already.  That was one of the reasons why I sold my bookstore.  I could see the signs on the sky and the dwindling sales.  So my love of books will be forever, but selling books is not it, at least at this stage in my journey.

I have something in mind, but have to refine it.  It has to be something that goes along with my way of being;  tiny investment necessary, has to make money, and must have meaning.  Otherwise, I don’t like to entertain the idea of becoming a statistic.  I have been there already. 

As you can tell, the wheels are in motion in my household.  So much to do, and so much time to do it all.  Surprised at the phrase?  You expected something else, like so little time.  Nope, God has given us all the time we need to do the things we need to do.  That we choose to do other things, well…that is our problem.

Age is in our imagination.  Sometimes the body likes us to think another way, but mind over matter.  Remember.

Hasta manana,

Your Happy Contessa

For the past two days I have been volunteering at our local public library.  When we moved to this town, as soon as we got our driver’s licenses, the first place that we went immediately after was to our library to get our library cards.  I love books and forever will.  Now that I have that established, you must imagine how my heart goes out of whack when there is a library book sale.  Ours is going to take place within the next two weeks. 

I volunteer at our library because I realized that they were letting some very valuable books go out of the door for literally pennies.  That is good for all of us, but the library needs every cent they can raise, due to budget cuts and increasing expenses.  In the past two years, the Collector’s Corner has raised way over $2,000.00 extra for the benefit of the library and in turn, the community.

What I like about library sales is that it is like a treasure hunt.  You never know what you are going to find.  You may even find a new interest.  Some of the books have  incredible illustrations, some of them are first editions, and some of them are rare books.  We have a set for sale for over $750.00, but no takers yet.  It dates back to early 1800’s with hand painted illustrations.

One of the reasons I love libraries and book sales is that the concept of a public library was new to me when I moved to the United States.  You mean that I can take books to my house, for up to three weeks, then bring them back and take out some others, all at no expense to me?  Wow!  That was unbelievable to me.  For me a public library is the most important institution in any community. 

Would you believe that all these books only cost me $10.00, or I could have a supermarket paper bag full of books for $12.00.  I just didn’t want to be greedy.  The paperback on the foreground costs $9.++ at the big discount store.  So it was like buying one paperback and getting all the other books for free.  Noticed I got a video on writing?  Hopefully it will help me to improve the way of expressing myself.  There is always room for improvement on any area in life.

Well, if you have any used book sales sponsored by your local public library, please get in line the day of the sale, and get yourself some great treasures for a song.  I used to be in line in Florida around 12 midnight the day of the sale, that started at 9:00 am that morning.  I was like number fifteen.  Some people used to get in line a day and a half in advanced to get the best books.  That was a heck of a sale twice a year in Gainesville, Florida, one of the best ones in the United States.

May your love for books increases as time goes by…

Until next Monday…make it a happy weekend.

Your Happy Contessa

March 5, 1938 – February 25, 2009

I hope this finds you well and happy.  This is the way Ron used to start all his writings.  He told me that’s the way Thomas Jefferson used to do it.  I thought I would do the same thing here today.

He looked so much like himself in this picture.  We were entertaining friends.  He always got a bit nervous before guests arrive, but once we were all together, he was Mr. Entertainer himself.

Ron was always trying to please everybody.  He was an ambulant encyclopedia, knew a bit of everything.  He liked to play dumb, because he told me that that’s when you find out how people really are,  and how much they know about you.  But then when you least expected it, Bam! he would deliver a piece of information that you were searching for and it would leave you perplexed because you thought he wouldn’t know a thing.  That was Ron alright.       

He loved gardening, painting, fixing things up, unfixing things up (like that yellow bathroom he painted while I was away;  he painted even the sink cabinet, doors, all a bright bright yellow.)  But that was Ron.  He wanted to give me a nice surprise in my favorite color.

He had a big following when we used to have the bookstore.  I remember on a Monday, this woman all spiffed up and smelling real good comes to the counter where I was.  She asked me where was the owner, the nice looking with gray hair man who was there yesterday.  I played dumb, to follow Ron’s instructions.  I asked her to give me details about this good-looking guy and what could I do to help her.  She said to me that he was so knowledgeable and an interesting kind of man, and she would like to get to know him more.  At that moment I said to her that if she was referring to the ravishing looking man who was there yesterday, that he would happen to be my husband.  I said it in a nice way so she wouldn’t feel that bad.  That was a funny moment.  She and her diamonds, good smelling stuff and a lot of hair spray and teased hair left as soon as I said that.  I made sure she left with her ego intact.  No bruised ego.   

Ron loved to sell books.  It would kill him to come home without making a sale.  Yes, we had those days too.  I could tell as soon as he came home, his face would be all sad.  He was very competitive and always wanted to have a bang up day.  He was my stellar seller.  Only had him on the staff.

I fired him on a Christmas Eve, because he sold a whole set of books for the price of one volume alone.  He was so shocked and told me he had never been fired before in his life, leave it alone on Christmas Eve.  He promised me he never will make a mistake ever again.  I told him that just because it was Christmas Eve, he could have his job back.  We really had a good time with each other.  We compromised a lot with each other.  It was easy to do so with Ron.

I miss him a whole bunch, but I like to focus on being grateful that I had the opportunity to have him in my life instead of focussing on not having him around.  I know his beautiful energy surrounds me always.

Now Ron is taking care and baby sitting for the newest littlest angel in Heaven, Alice Riley, his baby granddaughter.  Watch it now Ron with your teasing her.  Take good care of her.  We know you are doing your best.

We miss you both but are glad you have each other to keep company along with Margie, and Rolla.

 

My love to all of you,

Your Happy Contessa