Merry Christmas everyone, family, friends, future family and future friends.

It's Christmas Day, the sun is shining and all is well. We are having the kids over later on today for gift opening. As usual, the little ones get more than the adults. The stockings are hung and filled with goodies. Dinner is ham & swiss cheese on Rye, (make your own) chipped beef and cheese ball, spinach dip, pimento dip, fresh veggies, crackers, and tortilla chips, deviled eggs & strawberry jello salad. Of course all sorts of stuff to drink. No big sit down meal this year.

Arkansas broke the 127 year old record for rainfall this year, 75.54 inches, as of today, December 25. Thursday we got almost 8 inches of rain total. Flooding everywhere. Even I-30 was closed for 10 hours between Alexander and Benton. The small base lake was flooded almost up to the road. Hwy 107 was under water in places. Going through Gravel Ridge, the water in the swamp was only about 3 ft from the road. Jacksonville/Cato Rd, which leads to our old house was under at least 3 ft of water, the church parking lot was a lake, quite litterly, at least 3 ft deep!! I wonder what sort of winter we are in for. It's gonna be cold I'm sure, and I'm thinking icy. I'd still rather be here for winter than in NE or IA. My friends and family have been telling me about the snow. They can have it!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Made out Christmas Cards today for most everyone. I don't have a few addresses and some others do not want to hear from me so no card will be sent to them. Their loss. It really doesn't seem much like Christmas here in Arkansas. No snow, no real cold, none of the usual things we link to the holiday season. Oh well, I'm used to these no snow winters and I have to say I really like it. I am not a big fan of snow. It can be here for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, but that's about all I think I can tolerate. I see where Iowa and Nebraska got dumped on. I have family and friends in both states.

Busy weekend and now for a busy week. Fine by me, makes my day go by faster. I have several quilt's I want to make and am so happy to have such a giant kitchen table for the laying out of the fabric, cutting, putting together, etc. Sure is nice. I'm considering getting a strip cutting machine. It will cut 4 layers of fabric at a time, but I'm not sure I'd use it enough to pay for it. But on the other hand, it sure would make cutting strips a whole lot quicker!! Time savers are always good!!

Enjoying myself here at home, with my kids and my grandkids. Family is such a wonderful thing to have and the closeness it gives a person cannot be topped.

The Mona Lisa Painting

The Mona Lisa is 16th century oil painting created by the renowned Leonardo da Vinci. The work of art depicts an enigmatic woman gazing at the viewer, and it is said that if you move across the room while looking into her eyes, they’ll follow you. It is definitely one of the most popular paintings worldwide and has been the center of many artistic, religious, and theoretical debates. The French government currently owns the Mona Lisa and it is featured at the Musee du Louvre in Paris. The painting can also be referred to as La Gioconda or La Joconde.

The name of the painting stems from the name of the woman in the portrait, Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy businessman in Florence, Italy named Francesco del Giocondo. Mona means ‘my lady’ or ‘madam’ in modern Italian, so the title is simply Madam Lisa. Art historians agree that Leonardo da Vinci likely began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503, and completed it within 4 years. In 1516 the King of France, King Francois, bought the painting and it is thought that after Leonardo’s death the painting was cut down. Some speculators think that the original had columns on both sides of the lady, whereas other art critics believe that the painting was never cut down in size. It has been suggested that there were 2 versions of the Mona Lisa painting, but many historians reject the second version. The duplicate copy can be found at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. After the French revolution the painting was moved to the Louvre, and Napoleon had it placed in his bedroom for a short time before it was returned to the Louvre. The popularity of the Mona Lisa increased in the mid 19th century because of the Symbolist movement. The painting was thought to encompass a sort of feminine mystique.

In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The art thief hid in a broom closet until the museum closed, stole the painting, hid it under his jacket and walked out the front door. Eduardo de Valfierno was the mastermind behind the theft and has planned to make copies of the original and sell them as the real thing. Eventually, in 1913, he was caught when trying to sell the original to a Florence art dealer. The Mona Lisa is most famous for her facial expression, her enigmatic smile and da Vinci’s mastering of tone and color in the painting. There is much mythology and interpretations relating to the painting that mystify the world. Many art critics and art history buffs suggest that the Mona Lisa is actually a portrait of da Vinci himself in feminine form. In addition, most viewers see the meaning behind Mona Lisa’s smile very differently.

It's going to be a beautiful day!!

The sun is out and the day is beautiful!! We had a lot of rain and lots of flooding in area's but now the sun is taking control. It's going to be a beautiful day!! Enjoy today, you never know what tomorrow brings.