On the road again

Good morning from beautiful Knoxville, Tn. We are traveling on our way home, and not in any particular hurry.

Yesterday we left High Falls State Park in Ga. If you have the opportunity to visit this beautiful park, I highly recommend it. We always stay on the River side, and it is very shady and quiet. A wonderful, relaxing experience. We stayed there while we were preparing for my last show in McDonough, Ga. The Geranium Festival is one of my favorite shows, as the crowd is always so welcoming and appreciative. I didn't set the world on fire, but did make about $25 more than last year, so I consider it a win. And with this being a major fund raiser of the Lions Club, I know the money is put to good use for charitable events.

So Monday, we closed up our camp and headed north on I-75 towards our destination, Ohio. We were doing very well and wanted to make it through Knoxville at night to avoid the traffic. We hoped to touch base with a fellow artist that was staying above Knoxville. Perhaps have a glass of wine or at least a cup of coffee this morning, but a flat on my van in Lenoir City, Tn stopped us. Luckily there was a great staff at the TA truck stop garage got me fixed up and ready to travel again. We decided to call it a night and just dry camp at the Flying J. They have wonderful spots sized for campers and motorhomes and we just pulled in one and spent the night.

Right now we are having our morning coffee and getting ready to travel further north. Don't know if we will make it to Ohio today as we are just driving at a relaxing pace, and it is over 7 1/2 hours to home. But we will get there when we get there. No hurry, my next show isn't until Memorial weekend, so relaxation is the theme today.

Hope to talk to you again soon.

Customer Service, a lost art

I am noticing a lot of hype about customer service. Seems everyone knows that something is lacking, but I fear they do not know how to rectify the problem. From the clerks at the market, to the representative on the telephone, to the youth of today, personal interaction has taken a backseat to perceived efficiency.

The young kids all use electronic devices to talk back and forth, to bank, to pay their bills, this bringing about a large group of individuals that cannot look you in the eye and say, Good morning, how are you today?

Yesterday while at the drive up ATM window at the bank, I noticed the person in front of me was a friend of my nephew. He was definitely making a deposit. The bank was open, several windows were available at the time, but he chose to go to the ATM, which did actually take him a lot longer than had he went to the drive-up window. But that would have involved human contact.

I spent over 25 years in the customer relations field, and I see a terrible trend developing. How as a nation can we continue to grow without human interaction. Getting to know our fellow neighbor or just a greeting to another person.

As a child I watched the Jetsons. What a great life, with machines doing our everything beckoned wants and needs. Did I ever see the Jetsons interacting with other humans outside of work? Did I ever see a dinner party or someone stopping by just to say hi? I don't believe I did.

So today, make it an extra effort to ask someone how they are doing. Tell them to have a nice day, but most of all, look someone in the eyes when you do it.

Remember When - Not just for Allen Jackson

Today was a day of reflection. Recovering from shingles is a slow process and I have good days and bad ones. I spent the last two days working on some pretty intense family issues, so today I paid for it. That made it a day of sitting on the porch and resting. As my mind wandered to a simpler time I couldn't help but to remember when... See how many of these bring back fond memories for you.

You could play outside for hours alone and didn't have to worry.

You knew your neighbors' name and you spoke on a regular basis.

You neighborhood was a community and people would help out their neighbors if so needed.

You didn't have to worry about what your kids are watching on TV or the computer.

Meals were eaten together at a table and not in a car.

Besides the church, the school and your child's education was a focal point of your life.

Parents took responsibility for their children and taught them the difference between right and wrong and basic manners.

Telephones were in houses not in pockets, and girls giggled with girls about boys, and no one knew what a text message was.

Customer service involved a greeting and eye contact when you made a purchase. And, oh yes, thank you.

People made eye contact when they walked down the street.

I could go on for hours and more and more items. But as I reflected this afternoon, I was sure you could do your own "remember when". Close your eyes and go back...

Under the weather

Hello all, I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I apologize for the lack of posts, but seems I have contracted a severe (and I mean severe) case of shingles. Now I have heard of people getting these before, and heard they were nasty and painful, but there isn't a word to describe the pain. I have been through alot of surgeries and such in my life, and this by far is the worse. Each day I attempt to do something, but it quickly puts me back, laying down and resting. So I surrender. But I didn't want to leave you totally without a bit of crafting and primitives so check out these sites. I am sure if you already aren't a follower, you will be after today. Enjoy and hope to see you soon.

http://backwoodscountryprims.blogspot.com/

http://primsfromabove.blogspot.com/
http://mylifeisastitch.blogspot.com/

http://primitivesisters.blogspot.com/

http://wherewomencreate.typepad.com/blog/2010/04/this-weeks-fabulous-friday-artist-isamy-seegerof-my-name-is-amy-seeger-and-i-run-my-small-business-from-a-town-just-outside.html

Working Wednesday

Yesterday I was able to spend a few hours in my studio on some new signs. I have a lot of ideas on paper, and now it is time to bring them to realization; I hope. I don't know about you, but sometimes an idea on paper just doesn't come out the way you had hoped. But that is another story. I am sharing a couple signs I got completed. My "Nana's Place" and "Gone Fishing.
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I wanted to incorporate my "nana" theme into some new signs and I want to start working on more floral work. Being self taught, I don't do well with the "one stroke" process. I once spent 4 hours at a show (not a good show) with a neighbor who did beautiful floral work. She tried for hours to get me to limit my strokes to the one stroke process, couldn't do it. Having the creative bug, I can't just contain myself. So I am working on flowers.



As well, it is springtime and I want to take some of my old tried and true favorites and enhance the work as well. I have been doing fishing signs for a long time, and it is going to be father's day soon, so here is a new fishing sign as well.


Hope you have a great day. I will talk with you soon!

Monday Monday - A visit from Flat Stanley

Good morning all. I hope the weekend was good for you. Most of us enjoyed a part of the weekend with good weather and it is sure to get better. Down here in sunny Florida it is getting better every day. It is still a little wet, but the temps are great. So great I was blessed with a visitor from up north the other day. My grand daughter Savannah sent me her Flat Stanley doll so he could experience a vacation in Florida. Here Flat Stanley is modeling her hairstyle with my sister. They have the same doo!
It was perfect timing as we were just set to go off to a real rodeo. There was barrel riding, bull riding, calf roping and a lot of cowboys. Florida has several sanctioned rodeos. This one was held at the Ocala livestock facility and though some of you might not know, Ocala has proclaimed itself the "horse capital of the world". There are big ranches here for sure, and plenty of ranch hands also known as cowboys.



I was working at this event helping a fellow vendor sell cowboy hats. That was sure a hit. Along side our tent was a big bull named Sancho. Sancho was a steer from Ohio. No kidding; New Holland to be exact. Sancho and his owner were down here traveling the rodeo circuit for the winter as well. Sancho was such a mild mannered steer that he would lay down when told, back up and pose. He loved his carrots and apples. He was just like a big over grown pet. But look out, Sancho has a horn span of over 122" and still growing. Kids (and some adults) would get on Sancho and get their pictures taken. And of course, Flat Stanley had to get her picture taken. She was a little scared, so I got on too. What a great picture. Then we went in and watched the rodeo.
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Saturday was the last day of the show, so we had to tear down. After that we were so hungry we had to stop at a Denny's to get something to eat. And of course, we couldn't leave Flat Stanley in the car, she came along too.
We hope to take Flat Stanley to the beach, to see the manatees and perhaps a boat ride along the Crystal River. Anywhere we go, Flat Stanley will go to. Check back later to see if he gets into any more wild adventures.
Talk to you later this week, please be sure to join my blog as I am working on a free give away to members who follow my blog. TTYL...Karen and Flat Stanley.

Whacky Wednesday

DAD AND MY GRANDSON TYLER




Good Morning! Today is supposed to be Wandering Wednesday, but as some of you might have read in the past, we are remodeling the MH, and because of this process, which is going slower than expected, we aren't very mobile right now. And though I am not totally tied to my MH, my travels haven't been very exciting. So I won't bore you with those stories.

My MH is currently sitting in the driveway of my father's house in Florida. My father will be 83 in June and has a progressing case of Parkinson's decease. In his case it affects his mobility in his legs. On most days he doesn't walk very well and someone has to help him into a wheelchair or if not too far with his walker. And to further complicate his life, the medicine that he is taking has had an adverse affect on his cognisant skills. On a good day he will know us, and will converse though he often can't complete a sentence. On a bad day, he doesn't know where he is and who we are. This is the most difficult for me.

But, despite how difficult it is for me to see him this way, I can only imagine how he must feel. To start a sentence and not be able to remember what you were saying. To have to have someone to help you in almost every area of your life. In my younger years I remember my father as a rock, a successful business man, and thougt I really didn't always agree with him, I was respectful of his knowledge and position as head of the house. This is a real role reversal and is difficult at best.

So now we spend our time together sitting in front of the television watching cowboy westerns, his favorite, wheel of fortune, Bonanza and Brian Williams. We don't talk much, but it is knowing that no matter what life takes from me, it will not take away these memories of time spent with a man that has meant so much to me in my life.

Have a great day and spend some time with someone you love.