Weekend Fun

What a glorious weekend it was.  The weather was just fantastic and we all reveled in it at the cabin.  The blue skies, the warm weather, oh what a wonderful time.  I took a ride on the golf cart to check out the damage was from the recent flooding.  It is truly a mess but spring will hopefully bring renewal again.  

We've always had a plethora of turkey buzzards but wow... 

they were just everywhere... 

The water was very serene. 

My new camera was quite fun to capture this handsome one (haha).   

On our ride home I told The Hubby to slow down at one of the farms to capture this bull.  He was in the same place a few weeks ago and I wanted to capture his photo to possibly paint. 

We did have some news though of our sweet Snicklefritz.  She has been sick and she in turn has passed it to me but hers just got worse and worse.  She had a cold that developed into an ear infection and then on Saturday a rash popped up.  That was concerning and her momma was told to take her to the emergency if a fever came.  Well, Saturday afternoon she had a fever of 101 so off the the emergency she went.  They ran a bunch of tests and ruled out strep and flu but this morning they got the rest of the results, RSV.  Egads.  Most children get it by the age of 2 and it can cause problems for young babies and elderly if their immune systems are compromised.  Fortunately for her she is three and healthy otherwise.  She still has a nasty cough and the rash doesn't seem to want to go away.  She was on antibiotics for the first time and it might be a reaction but she is actually through with them so the doctor said it could be a secondary virus.  Good grief.  That kiddo has only had 3 days of her little school and been sick, sick, sick.  At least she is in good spirits and let the doctors do all kinds of things to her without complaint.  I will be looking after her a lot this week as she needs to not go to school for a bit till well.  

Juried vs Judged

Yes, I'm lacking in posts here but that is just the way it is.  I've been busy gathering and getting ready for a kind of big deal, actually a couple of big deals.  I'm still in the early stages if learning the art world and I've recently become acquainted with a couple of terms, judged and juried.  A judged art show, which I have done several through Alpha Rho Tau here in Tulsa are just that, judged.  You present your art in a show and someone judges it and you win a ribbon or prize.  Recently I've a couple of opportunities for juried shows.  The first one is for a group called Southeast Oklahoma Fine Arts, or SOFA in McAlester.  It was a whirlwind of getting info and paintings, or photos of, for the deadline of January 1.  I did it and in the mail it went.  Juried is where you submit photos or the art and it is then determined if it will be a part of a show, then it will be judged.  I got my acceptance letter for my first juried show that will be in March.  Now I will have to deliver my three paintings to McAlester in February then go back for the reception and announcement of judging results.  It will hang at the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple for two weeks then back to McAlester to pick up and hopefully some will be sold.  My issue yesterday was that I could NOT remember which three paintings I put in.  Had to make a phone call to figure that out but all is good.

Now, the next big deal is a local outfit called Tulsa Artist's Guild.  It is a group that has been around since 1933, as ART has been around since 1930 and am a member.  Last night, at this JURIED show, I became a member of TAG.  It was an ordeal of hoops where we were invited and sponsored for consideration of membership.  Once the application was filled out and JPEG's of the art submitted then we (some of my art friends) descended upon one of the members homes with five paintings or art pieces framed or readied as if in a show.  There were six of us up for membership.  Three of us, Linda, Charlotte and myself I of course knew, but the other three, not a clue who they were.  So that means 5 pieces of art between 6 of us, 30 pieces of art that was displayed all over Sheila's house, on walls, in the laundry room, dining room...you name it, art was everywhere.  So the day went like this:

* Up early and attend class (8-3)

* Spend a whole day painting then home to load up five paintings

* To Sheila's to drop off said art (3:30)

* Home to wait...wait...wait...

* Back to Sheila's for the Meet & Greet (6:30 - 7)

* Leave to wait at my house with Linda (& hubby) and Charlotte (7 - 8:45)

* Phone Call.....YOU'VE BEEN ACCEPTED, ALL THREE!

* Back in the car to pick up art and receive congratulations, handshakes, 

and THE BLACK BOOK! (9:00)

Yes, we three musketeers are now also members of TAG!  Sadly of the six juried, only five were offered membership in their group.  We were all ready that one of the three musketeers would not be a part of the group but the threesome is still intact!  

That was a long day and I'm still not sure if it is going to be worth my time as they have NO shows planned, so I guess just meetings.  We are afraid that all they want is new blood i.e. worker bees.  I have news for them, we three are way, WAY to busy for that.  

Number 40

Today, 40 years ago, we said I DO!  Yes today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary!  We met, we fell in love and we TIED THE KNOT.   

We shared that moment with friends and family, some still here and some gone.

We started a family and they, in turn have created their own families... 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY LOVE....

THE HUBBY!

Life Is Just Not Fair

Life is just not fair.  

Yesterday I found out that a dear friend is facing a divorce.  So very sad for him.  He has had so many knocks in his life and I worry, WORRY about him.  The weekend was not good for him, as his wife let him know that she was not happy, that he was NOT the "man of her dreams."  She has found another to fill that dream guy idea!  He is absolutely crushed and you have not lived until you sit with your guy friend and he is crying, just crying for a life he thought he had.  He was planning for retirement with his lady but it is not to be.  He will have to sell his farm she wanted and divey up the pets they both have.  He will have to move and more than likely his retirement is not to be anytime soon as I'm sure she will get a good part of what he has, which is not much really.  He said he tried to do the happy things for her lately.  Bought her a new EXPENSIVE quilting machine (like $20,000) a brand new kitchen, a new Tahoe...but alas she is not happy.  He said he just didn't get it but that he's a guy and he thought that would make her happy.  It's funny, when he walked in the door I turned to another friend and said, "SOMETHING IS WRONG!"  I could see it immediately and sure enough his life is changing forever, yet again.  He's weathered the loss of both parents in the last five years, and a brother, another divorce (many years ago) and the devastation of a deal done dirty to him many years ago.  This is the nicest, NICEST guy you will ever meet and it breaks my heart to see him so beat down.  It is so on my mind that he is so sad but glad he knows where his friends are and we are there for him.

Life As I Know It

This blogging everyday, well as you can tell, NOT HAPPENING!  Oh well.

This week in class I got a bit further on this sweet painting.  Hopefully it will be finished next week.

Got yet another commission, sweet Carter!  It's just started and now I wait for it to dry a bit so I can add more white. 

Snicklefritz started school this week and it was a rousing success.  She loved it and so did we.  Also, this "hasn't napped in a year girl" napped at school, both days.  Wow, I am impressed they were able to get her down.  Need to find their secret.  Unfortunately she has never been sick and second day when they got home, yesterday, she got out of the car and promptly threw-up on her momma's new shoes.  I sooo hope this is not going to be a problem.  She so far has had great immunities but we will see. 

While playing catch with her on Wednesday she turned and this pose caught my eye.  I told her to "DON'T MOVE" and snapped this beauty.   

A Tale of Bureaucracy

This is a tale of bureaucracy and the headache that it is.  In July our right hand man put the renewal on my desk for his notary that we pay for.  I quickly figured out that it was a scam but he knew it was about time for the renewal so I sent in the info to renew his with the state.  It bounced back that it was too early (should be November) but there was no check, that the check was kept in an account.  I thought well then no problem.  So I stuck the paperwork in the calendar for the appropriate date and did just that, dropped it in the mail.  Well, of course it came back and said paperwork could not be continued because no money was sent.  So I called and they said the money was sent back to us, actually the money was sent to our guy and with the death of his wife and all I'm sure he just put it in the bank, all of $20.  I let it roll and got another check ready and we put the stuff in the mail.  Well, it came back because dang it the insurance company had not sent the bond yet to us and in the meantime it came in.  So I sent in the stuff again and it came back that because his notary was now expired we needed to send in $5.  It is now January and I have been playing tag through the mail since November.  That was last week and NOW our guy got in the mail the bond with red circled all over it saying he needed to sign in places, and have it NOTARIZED!  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  So of course he had to go to the bank to get it notarized and the girl at the bank said she went through the same damn thing last year.  The bureaucracy is just crazy and we've probably spent $5 alone in postage.  I have a HEADACHE!

Fireplaces, Food and Friends, the 3 F's

Brrrr, Baby it's cold outside, but happy day THE SUN IS SHINING!  Sorry but I did miss a post yesterday but just didn't have anything to say.  We hightailed it to the cabin Friday afternoon to spend some quality time with the cabinites.  Sadly we could only stay overnight as we had a dinner commitment with some of The Hubby's dance companions.  I really didn't want to leave as H was fixing her famous chicken gumbo but as it turns out we had a fantastic time with the dance buddies.  There were 10 of us and The Hubby's dance partner Tina's mother Elke fixed Hungarian goulash and German (she is true German) red cabbage.  Oh my goodness it was absolutely delicious.  So very yummy.  The visiting was so much fun too.  It was truly an evening worth coming back to town for.  Next weekend though, the cabin it is for the ENTIRE weekend.

Work In Progress

 I went to another art class yesterday because I had the time and I wanted to finish this painting.  Still not done, a work in progress.  When I started it on Tuesday, by the end of the day I was ready to scrape it off but you know I'm kind of happy with it now.  I will go again next Tuesday and work on it and you know as I look at the photo there are things I have GOT fix on it and add the window pane.  It's definitely got a long ways to go but I'm liking it better and better with each stroke.

Snicklefritz

Yesterday was all about Snicklefritz and I am quite happy about it.  As I've written before, I watch her on Monday and Wednesday's while her momma teaches at the local community college and we usually have great fun.  Well, her momma is gearing up to add Tuesday and Thursday's to her schedule but I had to tell her I CANNOT watch Snicklefritz.  It's not that I mind but I have art on Tuesday's and sometimes on Thursday's and on Thursday's I try to make any appointments like doctors, nails, hair, lunches, etc.  So the hunt was on for a sort of day care for her.  I felt it was time anyway to engage her more with interacting with kiddos her own age in a different setting.  There's just so much a Granny can do and entertain a 3 year old.  So after her momma checking out some places on the Google and the phone one was at the top of the list.  We took a tour yesterday morning.  It's close to all of us and the office (plus)!  We went into the area that would be her level of kids and Snicklefritz just walked in and made herself at home.  We went into the director's office and she said Snicklefritz would be fine.  Talk, talk, talk, then we stepped out to check on her and there she was in the reading ring, sitting among kids her own age, eating a snack and totally engaged with the storytelling.  Awwwwww, PERFECT!  She was having a grand time and we knew it was going to be a challenge to even get her out of there.  We had found it!  I told B I would help in the money if needed as I felt that Snicklefritz needed this.  She is a very smart little girl and I can only do so much to get her educated.  So next week Snicklefritz starts "school" as she calls it.  She is very excited.

Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins, yes that was his name.  About a year or two after we moved into our new house there came a horrible rain storm.  The Hubby came inside and told me to step outside and listen to a sound he wasn't sure of.  I did and from around the house I heard a kitten screaming.  The Hubby ran out in the rain and there in a huge deep puddle in the grass was a very, very tiny kitten splashing around, drowning.  I knew we had some feral cats around and possible kittens but had only seen the momma one.  And there she was under the bushes watching as one of her babies was drowning.  I snatched him up and rushed inside to dry and warm the tiny thing.  He was still nursing a bit as I quickly found out as he started nuzzling on my t-shirt.  The Hubby went to the store and bought canned food and baby cereal and I mixed it up with a bit of milk and he was able to lap it up.  That sweet little thing became my constant companion after that.  Momma said to NEVER EVER have a male cat or dog as they would pee everywhere but I didn't care.  I loved this little guy like nobody's business.  He grew and grew and grew and became a loving pet for both of us, even though The Hubby did not like cats.  I named him Bilbo Baggins as I had just finished reading The Hobbit and he reminded me of Bilbo.  When I sat down he would get in my lap and suckle my t-shirts all the time which told me that he thought me his mother.  That big ole' Tom cat was huge and still nursing on my t-shirts.  We took him to the vet, got him fixed and gave him a very loving home, better than living the life of a feral.

That was about 1977, then September 1979 sweet Ms. B came.  The whole time I was pregnant Bilbo would sleep in her infant carrier and her baby bed, because he was my baby, or so he thought.  It's funny too because when we came home from the hospital he ceased altogether nursing on my t-shirts.  He weaned himself because a new baby was in town.  Don't get me wrong that big boy still loved to cuddle and nuzzle my chin and purr like crazy.  

BILBO BAGGINS

Sadly, about 5 years later he started getting very sick and taking him to the vet we discovered he had feline leukemia.  It was when the world was finding out about the disease and there were no vaccines yet.  I nursed him back from death's door a couple of times and then one day he just crashed.  I rushed him to the vet but it was too late.  He passed away while the doctor was trying to examine him.  I was heartbroken.  He was our first pet as a married couple.  My sweet boy.  Miss him still.  

Of course we went on to have a few more kitties after him but he will always be my first as a grown up.

Life As Usual

Ah, here we go, Day 5 of blogging everyday.  Do you think I can make it.  Hahahaha!

Not much in my world this week but work so yesterday I got to catch up from not sitting at my desk since last Thursday.  Of course it only took a couple of hours to get caught up then Snicklefritz and her momma arrived and it was PLAY TIME!

When I did leave in the afternoon it was to run the usual errands of the bank, post office, pharmacy and then grocery store.  Home was the usual of unloading groceries, put away groceries (UGH!) and make dinner.  But first I had to check the mail and look at what came!  My Christmas to me arrived in the mail.  These were not cheap but I've been watching a lot of painting videos when I'm not sitting at my easel to learn more.  One of the workshops I took the guy loves Quang Ho and I like his stuff too so.....here we are.  I decided to check out the still life one first as I think that is what I am going to today back in my classes.

Siblngs

Ha, betcha thought I was going to write about my siblings...NOPE!  Finished the kitties and called it:

"SIBLINGS"

8X10 oil on senso linen canvas

Just after I posted this little gem on my Facebook page a guy I went to high school with contacted me.  Now I never talked to the guy in high school, especially sense he was two years ahead of me, but I was kind of excited.  I know 40+ years ago...yada, yada, yada.  Anyway, he wanted to know if I could paint a portrait of his son in his football uniform, a LARGE one and how much.  I said sure and quoted from $300-450.  Here is part of his response:  I said yes of course it would.  

"Whoa ok, give me sometime, I just thought of something crazy not that I'm cheap lol would a b/w portrait look good"

 I said yes of course it would, not that the price would change because it is the time spent on the project.

His response:  

"Oh ok I see now its the time, ok well, this is something that just came to my mind lets stay in touch can you give me an estimate"

I said:  

don't be discouraged. It's time, paint, canvas all factors to make it come out right. Especially for a portrait painting, can take hours and hours of time. Please keep in touch. Thanks for the consideration.

His response:

"Ok thanks for giving me some of your time out of your busy day, and happy New year"

 Now, how should I take that?  Was he being nice?  I hope so but another person might kind of take it like snotty!  I choose to say he is a nice guy, right!  Hahahaha...Guess I'm not doing a portrait for commission.

An (Old) Experiment

Yesterday while I was sipping my second cup of coffee and enjoying the morning I was thinking of trying something new yet old, posting everyday!  Let's see how that goes.  I've done it before for about 6 months but WHEW, that was a challenge.  Going to try it again since this is the 10th year of my blog.  

Oh my goodness, what is that glow coming through my window yesterday morning!  Could it be....

SUNSHINE!

Yup, it was a beautiful sunshiny morning as it was the day before but yesterday morning even more so.  I decided to PAINT...wait...

I had to get Snicklefritz's momma to come get her first, I think.  Well, maybe not.  She's seemed content to sit in Granddad's lap watching shows about restoring old cars and things, boats (big, BIG boats) and guns and history.  Figures, but hey, she was quite content.  So...ONWARD!

Newspaper Hell

Sent a NASTY email to our local newspaper on New Year's Eve with a complaint.  The story is - We have been customers of the paper for 40 years now and up until last year it was a daily paper.  Love the paper! I love to read it and do the crossword, collect recipes, etc.  Last year we decided that we didn't need to take it daily so switched to Wednesday/Sunday.  Worked perfectly...UNTIL...about 3 weeks ago when our Sunday paper did not show up.  I called and called and called but of course was put into the automated system and it said it was delayed and delayed and delayed.  It did no good.  NO PAPER!  I called that Monday and was told they could credit our account but I said I did not want a credit I WANTED MY PAPER!  No paper.  I figured the carrier was just a mess and thought the problem was fixed.  We received our Wednesday paper and I couldn't wait for the next Sunday paper.  Hmmmmm, NO PAPER!  I called and talked to a person finally who apologized and said we would get a paper, which we did.  Wednesday rolled around and guess what NO PAPER!  DAMMIT!  I called and again went through the automated system that said sorry for the problem that one would be sent right out.  NO PAPER, and when I called yet again to talk to someone they said they showed no call that morning!  WHAT!!!!!!!!!  I was HOT!  They apologized yet again and said a paper would be sent out Thursday.  Guess what NO PAPER!  I then sent an email to get some tracking going on and got an answer that again apologized and that we would get a paper on Friday.  Yup, we got a paper on Friday, Wednesday's paper.  OH GOOD GRIEF!  The Hubby said just quit the paper but you know what it's the only paper in town.  I WANT MY DAMN PAPER!  We'll see what Sunday holds this week and I will NOT be going through the automated system again.  Next time I will insist on a manager!  

Happy New Year's 2016

Can NOT wrap my head around that it is 2016.  I remember in 1974, when I graduated high school and the thought of being in the 2000's was just confusing for my brain.  Now, here we are, 2016!  So very weird and to think I could live another 30 years to the 2040's!  Wow, just mind blowing.  Plus all the things that have happened in my lifetime.  The electronic age alone is just amazing.  Who would have thought we would be instantly chatting face to face across the globe and into outer space, instantly!

Spent the evening watching Snicklefritz while her parents enjoyed a kid free party!  The Hubby went to a dance with his dance friends so it was just me and her and she was in bed by 9.
WooHoo!  Happy New Year.

Snicklefritz discovered a box under the big Christmas tree that had some old tiny wooden ornaments in it.  We found a small tree in my tablescape and she decorated. 

In the box she found my star that I have been looking for.  She was so excited to find it and was thrilled to put it on her tiny tree.

I was awakened this morning about 5:39, after going to bed about 1:30...YAWN... by an earthquake.  Thought I felt a tremor last night about 9:30 but didn't see anything on my twitter account.  It's going to be a very, very long day with Snicklefritz because she was up at 7:30 today.  She got up with a dry diaper and we sat in the chair for a bit and watched the news then it was off to toys and breakfast of scrambled eggs, blueberries, bacon and a banana.  This kiddo can eat.  Now, at 9:05 a.m. she is contentedly sitting on the floor in my art room working her markers and her sketch book.  She's staying another night and hopefully will enjoy black eye peas and pork tenderloin!  

No New Year's resolutions except to clean out my pantry...CHECK...DONE;

Clean out my closet...today;

Read more;

Paint more and enter more contests/shows/opportunities;

Blog more as I go into the 10th year here at Jill of All Trades;

Happy New Year my friends and I promise I shall visit your blogs more often than as of late.