Hand #180 Glow

Today's the day to display our pumpkin carvings...
I've got my "Hand-Glow" on

Trick-or-Treat!

Hand # 179 Luck

had a crazy thought... How small could I go? 
While eating a handful of sweet red seedless grapes this morning, I paused to give it a try. The skin was very thick and somewhat easy to work with. I used cuticle scissors and simply cut it out. Photographed on a paper towel.

Interesting Fact ...... Have you heard of this Spanish tradition called “the twelve grapes of luck”? It dates back to 1895 and consists of eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight of December 31. This leads to a year of prosperity... so they say... 

Hand #178 PEACE

While in the fabric department of a local craft store, I closed my eyes, reached into the scrap fabric bin, and selected the "surprise" fabric for this hand.  
My little sewing box is lacking, along with my sewing skills. (what was I thinking!) Using saved safety pins from my racing bibs, I pinned the fabric. Cut out the pattern with dull scissors from the office desk drawer. Over the next several days I hand stitched then turned inside out with chop stick, stuffed with a shredded Swiffer Duster and added buttons for finger tips. 
 ... It's done, I am now at

PEACE 

Hand #177 Morningside

I am always delighted when I find a hand print in the sidewalk!
Spotted this hand while walking along Morningside Drive in Rice Village... one of Houston's best-loved shopping destinations since the 1930's. How old do you think this hand print is?   

Hand #176 Boring

I'm a button collector. It all began with a jar of buttons my grandmother gave me. She planted the seed that I keep watered to this day. Unfortunately, my prize collection is in storage back home in Florida. This hand is made from spare buttons sold with clothes we have purchased here in Houston over the past few years. Oh how I long for my antique buttons from day's gone by... these are boring!

Hand #175 Entice

Monthly coupons arrived in the mail. My hands sifted through the stack...not finding anything of interest. Giving them a "hand" for trying to entice me...then in the trash they go.  

Hand #174 Vivid

Pears are in season! I'm enjoying them daily, so sweet and delicious. Used the end of a potato peeler to create this pear hand carving. The fruit turned color as each minute ticked by, making the hand vivid. 

Hand #173 Little One

While shopping at Ikea I spotted this finger puppet set, created for a "little-one", displayed on a tiny wooden hand. Adorable! 
Want to make a purchase for "Pinkie" but they were all sold out.

Hand #172 Witch

(smiling)... time to have fun with the paints again! 
 removed rings from my left hand and used green/black paint

Created in the spirit of this spooky season

...here.....take a little bite my pretty

Hand #171 Hero

It was fun being a super hero ~ Wonder Woman ~ for a few hours this past Saturday morning. As part of the costume, I wore white satin gloves....so grateful it was a cool morning. The super powers flowed through me as I ran the 5K route, taking first place in my age group ~ Ladies Grand Masters Winner!
 

Hand #170 100% Pure

100% Pure Pumpkin ~ Excellent source of Vitamin A and Fiber
making pumpkin bread this morning... first step... open can of pumpkin and create hand

Hand #169 Fright

It's that "spooky" time of the year... spotted this hand in store parking lot. I would imagine to a small child this would look frightening!

Hand #168 Woody

Shout out Get Well Wishes to my beautiful sister who is home recovering from wrist surgery. Don't you just love the sticker idea for her cast? Makes me smile....

"We take for granted our hands until we lose the use of one of them...everything changes, quickly you learn to adapt" ~ Carla *

 

*I made an exception to my Blog for this entry. I did not take this photo. My sister sent me this photo she took with her phone so I could see her poor swollen hand... I felt it was fitting, with her permission, to place on my Blog...

 Love you Sister XO

Hand #167 Fold

While folding laundry this morning, my husbands socks turned into a hand! 

Day to day chores around the house have become interesting since I began this blog. When was the last time you smiled while folding socks?

Hand #166 LOUD

Today our condo building is conducting the city required fire alarm test, between the hours of 8:30am and 5:00pm. It's very LOUD, making working from home extremely difficult. Here I sit at the Corner Bakery being productive! Entertained those sitting around me, as I tore up my napkin to create today's hand.

Hand #165 Sunny

It's a bright, beautiful morning!
I'm feeling egg-stra silly...two in a pan makes a sunny hand! 

Hand #164 "R"

If the month has the letter "R" in it, you will find me sitting at an oyster bar eating a dozen raw. We are regulars at a wonderful oyster bar near our home. When they see us come through the door, the oysters are up on the bar ready for us. We like to sit right in front of the shucker and watch him do his magic.  These hands work hard and they get a BIG tip!

did you know? .... Patrick McMurray from Canada holds the record for shucking 33 oysters in one minute! WOWZA!!!!!
 

Hand #163 Digitabulists

I always look forward to doing a little mending. It gives me an opportunity to use my Great-Grandmothers beautiful thimble. This size 9 metal cup, with divots, fits my middle finger perfectly. The very same finger I'll bet she used to push the needle through the fabric.
An avid sewer, it warms my heart to think of all the beauty she created while wearing this thimble. I often will her sewing skills to come through the thimble and inhabit my body, because hand sewing is not something I am very good at. 
Here's an interesting fact... Did you know that there is a name for people who collect thimbles? Digitabulists 

Hand #162 Memories

While going through photos from last year, I came across this picture. It was taken while strolling the river walk in San Antonio Texas with my Mom, Dad and Sister. Do you remember seeing this, Mom? It was the end of the day, we walked to see a church and on the way back to hotel, we were at street level and found the stairs down to the river walk, taking us through a small park ...
HANDS! I stopped dead in my tracks to take this picture. I remember it like it was yesterday! So this goes to show hands have always captured my heart and my eye, even before I started this Blog.

Hand #161 Test of Time

One of my favorite things to do when I visit a city for the first time is to find an old historic cemetery. Recently, I took a stroll through First Street Cemetery, the oldest public cemetery in Waco Texas, dating back to 1852 - 1897. Among the unusual markers of gravestones I found several with Chinese characters, German and Norwegian epitaph, and several markers with precious hands. As I ran my hand over them to brush off the grass for the picture, they appeared soft and tender...  amazing how they survived the test of time.  

Hand #160 Thirteen

Time to make soup...
a delicious 13 Bean soup with ham. Don't you just love all the colors?

Hand #159 Therapy

I have the best physical therapist on the planet! Even though he makes me hurt (smile) my shoulder is recovering well. I injured my subscapularis capsule, the inside of my shoulder blade. I do my home exercises as prescribed. (action shot below) My left hand is finally comfortable holding the stretch band for my at home exercises. I can now raise my arm with my hand above my head, dry and style my hair, and put on a jacket and take it off with out much pain. I still have some work to do though. Knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I am one happy patient!

 

Hand #158 Shred

Cleaning out files, shredder working overtime, paused for a creative break...

Hand #157 Marble

A new men's store is about to open in our area. No signage up yet. This interesting hand is on display in their window. Not sure if the hand is holding a marble or a piece of candy!

Hand #156 Bounce

Doing laundry this Sunday morning. Photographed my left hand covered with a fabric softener sheet. Interesting look with the light and dark background

Hand #155 Weaving

Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft, are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. Observed on my recent visit to Homestead at Brazos de Dios in Texas

Hand #154 Pottery

Hands at work.... creating with clay at The Potters House observed on my recent visit to Homestead at Brazos de Dios in Texas

Hand #153 Inkspots visit Dinosaur Valley

Inkspots take a road trip to Glen Rose Texas to visit Dinosaur Valley State Park. Mr and Mrs Inkspot, Pointer and Pinkie were amazed to see and touch real dinosaur foot prints as they walked in the riverbed where the giants roamed. Dinosaur Valley contains some of the best preserved dinosaur tracks in the world.

113 million years ago soils were deposited along the shorelines of an ancient sea, forming this park area. Over the last million years or so the layers have been eroded and sculpted by the Paluxy River - flowing...cutting down to rock bed ... exposing the river bottom... that's where the dinosaur tracks are.

Upper Left Photo ~ Inkspots between two fiberglass models, a 70-foot Apatosaurus and a 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex. They were built, under commission of the Sinclair Oil Company, for New York World's Fair Dinosaur Exhibit of 1964 – 1965

Upper Right Photo ~ Inkspots in the riverbed with dinosaur tracks behind them... three-toed, sharp-clawed, two-legged theropods (meat eating dinos) Acrocauthosaurus tracks.... also huge four-legged, long-necked (plant eating) dinos also known as Brontosaurs.

Lower Right Photo ~ After their adventure in the Paluxy River, Mr and Mrs Inkspot took Pinkie and Pointer to Dinosaur World where they played and learned more about dinosaurs. 

Hand #152 Hurry

This photo was rushed... we were waiting on a light-rail train, which arrived just as I snapped the picture... hurry....hurry...
Interesting view of my husband in his red shirt. See him between my thumb and index finger? I didn't even notice he was there until I looked at the photo to post here!
My hand, as seen through glass block at rail station stop in Denver CO.

Hand #151 Crisp Autumn

as I wake to the crisp and cool morning... 

I'm inspired by "Mother Nature"

 Here's an Autumn hand and poem for you today 

In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October, when the trees are bare to the mild heavens, and the red leaves bestrew the road, and you can feel the breath of winter, morning and evening—no days so calm, so tenderly solemn, and with such a reverent meekness in the air. ~Alexander Smith

Hand #150 Classic Treat

October is here... bringing with it all the classic fall festive sweet treats
~ Candy Corn