What does the Spring season mean to you? Spring has been a time for me of watching the crocuses and tulips lift their sleepy heads out of the ground to say hello to the world. They herald in a time of warmer weather and longer sunshiny days, of walks with the dogs that don't require big puffy coats, knitted hats and scarves. Days that seem to never end. Now, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy to watch the snow come down on a winters day. But, Ahh, the spring time beats even that for me. Does hearing the word Spring put a "spring" in your step? (No pun intended-Hee Hee) After the winter we've had here in New York, it certainly does put a spring in my step, for sure! Since I was a young child, I've always looked forward to the spring time. The spring time for me meant that the warmer weather was just around the corner, there was more sunshine, longer days, blossoming leaves, more playing with my friends and siblings outdoors and on and on! It also meant that the Easter Bunny was going to visit our house and leave us baskets filled with candy. I loved the chocolate coved marshmallow eggs and chocolate bunnies the most! For Easter every year my grand mother who was a milliner would create the most beautiful Easter bonnets for us while my mom, a dress maker and designer, would make us gorgeous custom coats and dresses to go with the hats. We would travel from our home on Utopia Blvd. in Flushing, Queens to the Bloomingdales to get our black patent leather Mary Jane shoes, socks, pocket books and gloves. These would be saved in our bedroom closet until Easter Sunday. Every once in a while I would sneak a peak in the box that they were housed in and smell the new scent of the black patent leather and dream of how special I would feel all dressed up. As I grew and had my own children, I never forgot how excited I always felt this time of the year. However, Easter took on a whole other meaning for me. I'm not down playing the wonderful and exciting anticipation of the Easter Bunny coming and those chocolate covered marshmallow eggs that tasted like heaven. On the contrary, as an adult, it now meant a new life left dormant during the winter months. I guess you could call it an awakening of sorts. I became more interested in my faith and what that meant to me. I truly believe that my kids were the inspiration for this awakening. As they went to their religious education classes, I learned along with them. I realized that I didn't grasp any knowledge of my religious education when I was growing up. Oh, I thought I knew everything, but when I was learning along with my own kids, I found out that I was far from knowing anything at all. This was a real eyeopener for me. I realized right then and there that I had a great deal to learn and that everyday we learn something new no matter how old we get. What about you? What does the Spring or any change of the seasons mean to you? Do you have a favorite season? Please share you thoughts with me in the comments below. In closing, I would have to say that whether you live in the
Northeastern part of the United States like we do or else where in the world, take a little time to smell the flowers and do something nice for yourself. Happy tales to you, xoxo Yvonne
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Randon Acts of Kindness![]() Did you ever have a day that nothing seems to be going your way? Then out of the blue, someone does some small random act of kindness for you. What a nice scenario that is. But, do we really recognize this kind gesture? Speaking for myself, I'm guilty of being so engrossed in my challenges during the day that I don't even see that someone is being kind to me. This, I can assure you, doesn't happen often. But, when it does, I reflect on how I can try to recognize these random acts of kindness in the future. Sometimes it's not that easy to condition oneself to be open to the kindness of others. After all, we're all so busy doing so many things. Personally, I feel that I'm busier than I've ever been. So, sometimes, during those times that I'm rushing around, I'm unable to see or feel the kindness of others. In retrospect, maybe if I just slow down a bit I just might be able to see and hear that someone is being kind to me. I think that recognizing the kindness begins by slowing down. Then there are the times when we share a random act of kindness with someone only to be ignored completely. That infuriates me. For instance, last week while grocery shopping I was trying to navigate through a very congested isle. I saw a lady coming almost head on with my cart. I pulled my cart off to the side and waited for her to pass me. As she passed she didn't look at me, didn't say "thanks," didn't even acknowledge my kind gesture. She just passed and went on her way. My first reaction was that she was rude. However, after some thought, I assumed that maybe she had many things on her mind, maybe she was in a rush, maybe, maybe, maybe. Excuses for someone's rude behavior is how I justified my giving her a pass. However, the other part of me wonders how we've become so used to this type of behavior that it's becoming the norm. Instances such as the one I've described above makes me even more tuned into becoming more kind. When someone holds the door open for me, I make sure I say a quick thank you. When someone lets me into a traffic lane on the highway, I wave so that the driver behind me can see that I appreciate the gesture. To me, all of these little things, albeit small, add up and make us better people. I'm not saying that I'm perfect in any way shape or form. But, all I'm saying is that I'm trying. Kindness is free of charge. It doesn't cost a penny, yet it's as precious as gold! When we receive or give acts of kindness both parties benefit in so many positive ways. Being mindful of the many ways we can share our kindness with others helps with stress and our well-being. It improves our mental health and creates a sense of accomplishment and success. So, this month, I'm challenging myself to see if I can give acts of kindness everyday. At the end of each day, I'm going to review any acts of kindness I've given or received and thus count them as blessings! How about you? Are you going to try to be kind this month too? Happy Tales to you!
xoxo Yvonne What is Art to me?![]() ART: 1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. 2. the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance. "the visual arts" ~The Oxford Dictionary Definition I grew up in a home where the arts were encouraged. I was always in a school choir. In fact, one year we went on to be the state champions. From singing, playing instruments to the visual arts, we joyfully thought that this was the norm. My grandfather played the mandolin, guitar and violin. I have wonderful memories singing as my Aunt Marie played the piano while we sang along to the "Teddy Bears Picnic." I've since learned that this song was written by an American Playwright John W. Bratton in 1907. The lyrics were added by Irish Songwriter, Jimmy Kennedy. According to The Word Mystery Channel, "Teddy Bears Picnic" symbolizes the innocence of childhood, the joy of simple pleasures, and the power of imagination. (1) I don't think that my aunt realized that the song she was playing on the piano while we sang along side was that deep! Personally, I think she was just delighted to have her six and seven year old nieces singing along. Plus, she kept us busy while my mom got some chores done!! We just thought that it was fun. I often thought about those Teddy Bears and what fun it must have been to be enjoying food, fun, and freedom in the forest. The candy, cakes, cookies, and treats sounded so good to me. Then at age eleven I discovered a new passion. Drawing and painting. I loved it!! I recall looking up at the clouds and seeing things forming and then just floating away. It was great fun picking out objects in the clouds. Sort of like Dagger and Picasso's abstract paintings. You can see all sorts of representational objects in them. I had a great High School Art teacher, Miss Kubiak. She took me under her wing and introduced me to many types of art genre. She became a dear friend and mentor even after I was married and had my own children. I just loved her for her expertise and knowledge in the arts. In High School I became the President of the Art Club and was given cart blanche as to what the group of us did. It was such fun!! I remember Miss Kubiak telling me that I would make a great teacher some day! That meant the world to me. As a young mom, I continued to draw and paint in my spare time. I often created cards for birthdays and holidays and flyers for my kids school. But, it was when I left my families business that I saw the opportunity to continue my education at Hofstra University. It was there that my REAL passion for the arts flourished. I knew my passion was always there, but as many of you can "atest to", as a mom, I had family obligations that came first. That was always the way. Now that my kids were grown, I felt that this was my turn to expand my horizons. And I did! I had my first solo art show at Hofstra U and won the Art of the Northeast Prudential Wheeler Award in my first year. I was given the highest academic honor for my community service and academic excellence~The Golden Key Award. Over the years I've had the get fortune to receive many honors and accolades. As I reflect on my growth as a Fine Artist, I've come to realize that the challenges and sadness I faced when I left my families business had to happen in order for me to find my real passion in life. In retrospect, I'm happy I took the leap to find that my world was bigger than what I was leaving. Sometimes it takes a little bit of bravery to admit we need to move on. I'm happy I did...I found out that ART was a big part of my world, So what is ART to me? I guess it's everything!! I love when people talk about what they're creating. They inspire me to learn and create more. Whatever tool you use, keep creating, learning and inspiring. ![]() Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Enjoy by doing something creative! If you have time check out our Valentine's Day Card craft with your pet! It's Howling Fun! Log on to www.HowlingTalent.com for the details Happy tales to you!
xoxo Yvonne New Beginnings![]() Have you ever wanted to get rid of something old and welcome something new into your life? Something like: A new hair style. Or A new fashion style. Or New decor for your home. Or even... A new home in a new state, town or city... Change can be exciting. It may even be something to look forward to. But, It can also be scary and fearful. Often times changes in our lives are made for us. Like things we have no control over. Such as, the loss of someone or something we love. Those changes can be stressful and life altering. Then there are those little changes that happen often in our lives. Recently, my Facebook page Dagger II aka DogVinci was abruptly removed by Meta without explanation or reason. We've had the page since 2016. I tried to no avail to see what the problem was only to become even more frustrated. I felt dismissed and violated by Meta. There was not a "real" person to speak with about this issue. So, as time ticked away and people started asking me about Dagger's page, I resorted to create a new page. As I stated before, change can be sad and burdensome at times. Even the little changes like the loss of a Facebook page. LOL! It does take a certain amount of courage to start something from the ground up. But, on the other hand, new beginnings can be a time of exploring a whole new world for us. Creating our new Facebook page then became something exciting for me. What will we call our new page? Of course, Facebook also has rules as to what the name can be...After trying many names, I came up with "Dagger Picasso Barney" as the new name of our Facebook page. Creating new things especially in the New Year can make us feel like we are starting over with new beginnings. We can blame the ancient Babylonians for being the first to celebrate the New year and making New Year's resolutions. They would make resolutions to their gods. As time marched on, resolutions stuck and we now see them as identifying personal goals for the upcoming year, usually focusing on self-improvement, and setting specific, achievable plans to reach them; this often includes defining clear objectives, breaking down large goals into smaller tasks, and creating a strategy to maintain consistency throughout the year. To me that's a lot to attain! But, we must and should consider all of these things seriously. Setting our goals too high and unattainable can lead us to failure. Even making changes that we are unaccountable for can lead to failure. According to U.S. News and World Report it's an estimated 80% of New Year's Resolutions that end up as failures mainly because people loose the motivation to stick to their resolve. So, just weeks after we make our resolutions we quit. Sometimes we never even know that we've quit because there's no accountability for the resolutions from the onset. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a true believer in setting goals for oneself for health and well-being. However, when we set unrealistic and surmountable goals for ourselves, I feel that we're just setting ourselves up for failure. I believe in baby steps and things in moderation. Rome wasn't built in a day and our resolutions and life changes should be gradual and realistic. Each of us must consider our lives and what works for us. We're all uniquely different and our needs are too. Therefore, rather than run out of steam in a month, I feel that we should try to set small attainable goals for ourselves. When I was teaching Picasso how to paint, I asked Alex, his Professional Trainer, to help me teach him. The one very important aspect of her teaching was to always start small and increase over time. She told me that when we start small we are not setting the dog up for failure. Even tiny little steps should be rewarded. And when we fail, if we should fail, we always start over again with tiny little steps. That's what helps to create success. Most importantly, we must never, ever give up!!! Yes, we may want a new "Look" for 2025. That's a good thing! Take it slow and steady. Always remember to be good to yourself and recognize all of your accomplishments. Then set some new attainable goals for yourself. Happy, Healthy New Year! Happy tales to you, xoxo Yvonne ![]() Stay tuned:
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April 2025
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