Alice's Bedroom's Evolution

Back in 2005, when I first bought my house, my bedroom was painted white, and I was okay with that for a few months, but then I painted it a pale green.  

Not long after I painted my bedroom green, I became obsessed with painting a tree mural in the corner of the room.  No clue why other than one night when I was painting that mural, there was a loud BOOM and the whole house shook.  I assumed it was an earthquake, as earthquakes are fairly commonplace in Charleston, SC.  My boy dog, Buster, came running inside through the dog doors and was breathing so very hard that he took all my attention until I went to sleep that night.  I guessed the earthquake scared him.

I was wrong.

The next morning when I woke up, I noticed there was a HUGE tree in my backyard!!!  That tree used to stand behind my nextdoor neighbors' back fence. It had fallen and demolished a good portion of both our fences, which meant I suddenly didn't have a yard for my dogs anymore until the tree was removed, but that is another story.  

Today's story has to do with my bedroom.  

Yes.  I painted the tree on the green wall in 2006 and it looked like this:

I loved the tree for a long time, but I grew tired of the green, so a few years later, I painted my bedroom blue, but I kept the tree.  It looked like this:

I liked it okay, but the tree looked better on its original green wall, I think.  Still, I kept it for many years until yesterday, March 26, 2017, when I decided to have a normal bedroom again.  Now it looks like this:

and I LOVE it so very much!  Here's another shot of the room I took today:

This is the corner where the tree mural was.  It feels so calm and comforting in the room now.  I really love it.  All things pass when the time is right.  It was time for the tree to go, and I couldn't be more pleased. 

The color is really more of a grey with blue/green undertones, but for some reason my camera's eyes saw it as a pinkish color in this light.  It is really a more beautiful relaxing color in real life.  Lovely and it makes me happy!

What do you think?

Personal 3D Printers. The Future is NOW.

One of my sons is studying to be an engineer.  No, not the "drive the train down the railroad" fun kind of engineer.  More the "I have to know how to do crazy hard math problems and trouble-shoot difficult things" kind of engineer.

When I was visiting him recently, he looked up from one of his many notebooks filled with the kind of math that gives me a headache, and said, "Did I show you my 3D printer?"

What?  A personal 3D printer???  Is that a real thing?

Turns out it is a real thing, and turns out one of my sons has one!!

Okay.  He has one of the least expensive ones you can buy.  It was only about the price of a regular printer, but it still prints in 3D!

I was so impressed.  He printed me a little cat figurine thing to take home with me.  It is awesome, and I am keeping it on my desk at work so I can brag about my son anytime anyone notices it.  (NOTE: Don't say I didn't warn you. -grin-)

My son is learning how to write programs to make 3D printers print his own designs.  Fascinating.

If you are ever interested in purchasing your own personal 3D printer, be careful.  I've poked around the internet a little bit and discovered that some of the cheaper ones are cheap for a reason.  Others, like the one my son has, are really good though.  Still, right now, you have to know how to use the software to print anything useful, but if you're willing to learn something new, I think 3D printing may very well be the wave of the future!!

Here is a comparison of two 3D personal printers.  There are many types, of course.  These are only two of the more popular ones.


Nowadays they even have inexpensive 3D doodle pens that I had never heard of before.  Check this out!  I love this!


One last thing.  If you are wondering why I'm so excited that one of my sons is learning how to write programs to 3D print his designs, watch the video below.  

3D printers are awesome and profitable!  

Seeing the incredible things they have already printed makes me have hope for the future, and that is a very powerful thing.  

Enjoy!

Half-Naked Firefighters

The title got your attention, did it?  -grin-  I bet!  

Aw...I'll tell you about the half-naked firefighters, but first some background:

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE dogs.  Actually, I love all animals, but I especially love dogs.  That is why I feel the need to share today's information with you, my friends.  To help save the lives of many dogs (cats, birds, horses, etc. etc. etc.) here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Back in 2013 there was a little abandoned dog named Toby.  Toby was surrendered to Charleston Animal Society twice.  The second time someone had poured hot water or acid on him leaving him severely burned.  Instead of putting him to sleep, the fantastic folks at Charleston Animal Society decided to save him. 

You can read Toby's story HERE.

Toby's rescue inspired "No Kill Charleston" an all-out effort to save every healthy and treatable animal that ended up with Charleston Animal Society.  This is how Charleston County became the first community in the Southeast to become "No Kill."

"How do they do it?" you ask.  "Isn't it expensive?" you ask.

Very expensive and they do it with fundraising and donations from people just like me.  People just like you. 

They created Toby's Fund, Charleston Animal Society’s Medical Fund.

The biggest fundraiser they have is their annual Charleston Firefighter Calendar.  Charleston Animal Society first teamed up with local firefighters to do a fundraiser calendar for Toby's fund back in 2014.  The calendars have been wildly successful, and many animal lives have been saved because of it. 

The 2017 Charleston Firefighter Calendars go on sale TODAY,  July 15, 2017!  To pre-order yours or to stock up (They make GREAT Christmas gifts!) click HERE.

If you don't particularly like half-naked firefighters or you just don't want another calendar, they will also take donations at that link. 

Adopt if you can.  Donate or volunteer if you can. Spread the word if nothing else.  Be a hero. Save a life.

Weird, Wild, and Wonderful South Carolina Places You'll Want to Visit

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Todabut I did find the clip interesting. my birthday!!!  Happy Birthday to ME!

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Sometimes my friends and I like to do day trips to celebrate my birthday.  We don't go to the normal South Carolina tourist places like Myrtle Beach or Charleston or Beaufort or Table Rock, we go see odd and wondrous things!

Last year some friends and I went to the Button King Museum in lovely Bishopville, South Carolina.  We had THE BEST time.

The "Button King" is a man named Dalton Stevens. When he can't sleep he sews or pastes or somehow attaches buttons to things.  He's had insomnia a LOT, so he has all kinds of things covered in buttons. A car. A hearse. A toilet. A suit. A coffin. Etc. etc. etc. Seriously.  You want to see this place.

While we were in Bishopville, we couldn't pass up seeing Pearl Fryor's famous Topiary Gardens. Awesome!!

Pearl's story is immortalized in the DVD, A Man Named Pearl.  I first saw this on PBS a number of years ago, and I'm so very glad I was able to actually visit his gardens and see his work in person.  It is worth the trip!

Here are some of the snapshots I took during my visit to Pearl Fryor's gardens, but honestly, photos do not do this place justice. 

Go see if for yourself if you can!

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For my birthday today (Yay!) some friends and I are going to The Park Cafe for breakfast this morning, and then we are going to Cottageville, SC to see Bee City!  I'm soooo excited!  Bee City is a Honey Bee farm, petting zoo, and nature center.  Should be a lot of fun!

We might even stop by JW's Tire Station while we're in Cottageville to see the Tow Mater Tribute. 

Then, if the time works out, we hope to go to Ridgeville, SC to Duke's BBQ for some of the BEST barbecue around.  I sure hope time works out.  😊

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Here are some other great off-the-beaten-path things for you to see and do when you visit South Carolina.  I love places like these. Makes me want to travel more.

If you ever find yourself in Blackville, SC, you need to go visit God's Acre Healing Springs.

While you are in Blackville, be sure to stop at Miller's Bread Basket for some of the BEST Amish/Mennonite home cooking you'll find anywhere.

Can you tell it's nearly time for breakfast?  I guess I'm hungry.

Anyway....

Don't forget to go to Bowman, SC to see the UFO Welcome Center.  Watch this short video for more information on this one.  Wild, weird, and wonderful adventure for sure!!



NOTE: If you are easily offended, stop watching this after the first couple of minutes. I don't like the sex talk later in the clip, but I did find the clip interesting.

Alice's Art

This is some of my artwork.  I hope to have more time for art when I retire in mid-2017!