The Beauty Around Us

Good morning.  Here it is the end of September and fall is in the air but the flowers are still quite vibrant as the temps are still high.  I'm quite okay with that as I so love summer.  Fall is definitely in the air as you can see it, especially when we drive to the cabin and look off in the distance.  The hills of green are now speckled with gold, bronze, orange and yellow as the leaves of the trees are dying and will soon litter the ground.  I was sitting in the back yard yesterday afternoon and looked over at one of the pots of flowers that The Hubby planted.  This beauty is called blue plumbago and has quickly become one of my favorites.  I would love to paint it but I'm not sure I could do it justice.  The neon blue of the flowers just makes my heart sing.  

It's amazing what you see in the world when you open you eyes and really pay attention to the little things around you.

Today, and the next couple of days I'm staying put at the house and will be serenaded by the sound of roof scrapers and nail guns.  Yup, we are getting a new roof and my car will be stuck inside as I do not plan on moving my car while there will be roofing nails everywhere.  I'm sure it will be quite noisy but I have my ear buds and will listen to a book in the mornings and soaps in the afternoon.  It will be nothing as I'm used to The Hubby making all kinds of noises, either on the roof or the power washer, just whatever he chooses to occupy his time with.  

I've been in the studio a bit this week and Monday I decided to try my hand at this photo I took on Saturday afternoon before our family arrived for burgers and birthday celebrations.  

Wanted to share the most recent video of our heart warrior Mighty Max.  He is doing so very well and can't wait for his next milestone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today, this girl, my baby girl has a birthday, her 44th.  She will FOREVER be my baby girl (both girls actually!)  You know I had dreams when I left high school, to get married and have babies.  She made my dreams come true.

She was the first grandchild for my parents and the first girl in The Hubby's family of a fistful of boys.

The Hubby's mother was absolutely thrilled to finally have a girl in the family and loved every single day of it.

My butterbowl hat wearing baby!

Our little Tippy. 

Baby bird...

She was a Papa's girl, and Granny.

Her Uncle Steve was beyond thrilled to have a niece.

Cousins...

Ha, 8's The Place, my t-shirt is from our local television station.

Big Dan and my baby, she loved him.  He was a man of very few words and kind of gruff but he did love her, that day anyway...ha.

Remember Cabbage Patch dolls, this is Dina Lindy.

Friends...

Oh my does she look like Snicklefritz or what...

Shuggie (Granny or Greatgranny (as they called her) dog.

More friends...still to this day.

Happy Birthday my love.

Update: Life in General

This is just a little update about our little Bubs.  

Notice something...

no oxygen in his nose.  

Yesterday he went to the heart doctor which is every other week and they said no more oxygen, except at night right now but begin the weaning off of it.  He still has a heart monitor but said that needs to be weaned off (mostly the parents need to be weaned off of it!)  PLUS, he doesn't have to go back for a month.  I knew that would happen.  He is just doing so very well and just keeps progressing.  Now we tackle the food thing and he will have it made, till the next surgery.

MIGHTY MAX

Last week I scooted off to the cabin on a Wednesday and stayed till Sunday!!!  I figured I had nothing else going on and I'M RETIRED!!!  The Hubby showed up Friday afternoon.  It was absolute bliss.  I sat on my screened porch with a fire, my book and then I painted a bit.  Absolute bliss.  

I painted a still life...

"Fall is in the Air"

and...

"Big Red"

which I already sold.  Yes I have painted him before, in fact this is the third time, but they sell almost immediately.

Back to reality (meaning to town) and I hit the ground running with a 1-1/2 hour visit to the dealership for "required maintenance" and to get two nails out of one of my tires.  Glad I didn't have a blowout on the drive to the cabin.  Tuesday was our annual review on our retirement accounts, and finally Wednesday a bit of time at the easel.  I finished this little jewel and really like it.

"Fall Hay"

16x20

Monday was also back to cooking for us.  I had some frozen shrimp, feta, tomatoes, asparagus and rice.  I decided to do the feta back with the tomatoes then took out the immersion blender and whizzed up this to pour over a 1/4 cup of rice.  The asparagus I roasted in the oven and halfway through put the shrimp on top.  All seasoned with salt and pepper and I think Italian seasoning.  It was pretty yummy.

The week before I had my annual Medicare physical.  Don't mind telling you I was jittery about it.  I'm kind of a white coat-syndrome gal, my blood pressure tends to be high at first.  I was worried because I've again put a few pounds on ARGHHHHH!  But when the nurse put the cuff on I was amazed it was pretty perfect!  Then of course he harped on my weight and was again trying to push the Monjaro like diabetes drugs that people are taking to lose weight.  I AGAIN explained that first of all several of them, if not all, have warnings about a rare thyroid cancer.  I have thyroid issues in my family, me included, benign tumors on brother and my father's thyroid (his removed.)  My great-grandfather on my mother's side DIED of thyroid cancer.  So I am not inclined to be a test subject on that crap.  Also, many years ago there was FenFin that everyone was doing to lose weight and I was one of those that was put on it.  I lost weight, yes.  I stopped it (not sure why) and boy am I glad because the bad side effect was heart damage and open heart surgeries!!!!!  HOLY CRAP!  So I will continue on with eating fairly well on my own, ESPECIALLY after my labs came back.  To quote my doctor, "your labs are EXCELLENT!"  Well, that answers a lot about how I'm doing on my food.  I probably, know I should be exercising.  I'm going to take some steps in that direction...LOL.

Giggles and Smiles

It was a great day yesterday.  He giggled and laughed, grabbed my hair and jabbered.  It was a good day!

 

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Happy Labor Day Weekend.  

I've chosen to stay in town this weekend while The Hubby is on a guy trip to Colorado.  Good for him.  Yesterday I decided to do a figurative workshop in town, a one day event.  Frankly I was quite disappointed in how it turned out.  The morning "instructor" came in looking like the cat dragged him in and complained he didn't sleep much, up late painting for a show, he said!  He started to talk, kind of hem-hawing around and sketching a model that sat for him.  He was using an extremely light pencil, so light I could not see ANYTHING he was marking and I was sitting close.  Half the time he just tentatively drew without talking.  I nearly went to sleep.  Then the last 30 minutes of the morning we drew the girls head.  I didn't do too bad, and it looked like a girl, just not that girl.  LOL!  He never looked at what I did to critique it, not once.  The time was up and he was out of there.  Lunch, which I brought then we were to have a "long pose" with the same model.  She models like this for a living, nude modeling, all over the country and actually world.  WOW!  Back from lunch she was set up on a chaise lounge like thing, nude for an entire pose but the bad part was it was the same view I had from 3 hours of the morning!  BORING!  I started over and over again and really got too bored from it all.  The last hour and a half I just did her head, even left-handed as I nodded off then finally I just packed it up and looked at my phone.  I really like the quick poses that make you make marks.  I don't think I am a long pose kind of gal really.  Or could be the set up was just not inspiring me at all.  Oh yes, I'm glad I did it, got to hang with artists, but, probably not again.  I'll still do the Thursday evening gathering, I love that, but taking an entire Saturday, maybe not.  I don't even have anything to show for my trouble. 

Life carries on.  I cannot believe they are all in their happy little home and trying to get back to the new normal.