Snow World

I just wanted to bring you a piece of NO SNOW!  I took this photo from our car with my phone last spring or summer on our way to the cabin.  I want, NEED that kind of weather to come SOON!  Right now we are literally knee deep in snow as is a good part of the country.  Oh goodness, it so cold out there, pretty, but cold.  Of course The Hubby won't stay home and I don't see any of the employees trying to go into work at this point, but he CAN'T SIT HOME another day without going in to "WORK!"  Again, I don't see how he is going to navigate retirement if he can't just stay home during a bad snowstorm.  

Our poor little Clayton this morning went out his doggy door this morning but because it is so very cold and slippery by his door he could not get back inside, kept falling back.  The Hubby said he finally just sat down in the snow.  The Hubby got down on his knees and opened the door, reaching outside and grabbing poor Clayton.  It was just too cold and he would have been dead pretty quick just sitting there with the wind chill -22 or something like that.  SCARY!  I told The Hubby to turn it off, that I would keep an eye out on Clayton and let him out the sliding door.  It is too cold for this little guy especially with his arthritis issues.  I would have been very afraid if he had gone out at night or while we weren't home, we would have found him dead by his door.  Oh makes my heart hurt for our little guy.  Watch out for your pets, no animal or person should be out in this stuff.

Where Oh Where Has My Summer Gone

 Have I EVER written how much I hate, HATE winter!!!  I bring to you SPRING/SUMMER in Oklahoma, my favorite time of year. 

This morning here is ice, a thin sheet of ice everywhere and it has been that way since Monday.  Plus the temperatures are more than below freezing and have been all week long.  Surprisingly, I am not feeling the cold as much this year and that is weird.

I did go to the office yesterday, but today, NOT BUDGING!  I'm supposed to get a pedicure today but again, NOT BUDGING!

This is what I dream of, bare feet, sitting on my wonderful screened porch, listening to the birds and feeling the warmth of the day.

Speaking of getting a pedicure...I almost forgot this little tidbit on my brand new car, just barely a year old.  Monday I went to lunch with The Hubby leaving my car at the office.  When we returned we were pulling up and noticed our youngest in her car next to mine.  She was talking to her hubby telling him about "my car!"  When she pulled up she noticed a huge scrape on my lower back left side panel.  It was very low and I never even saw it before.  There was scraped black paint on my car, someone had HIT MY CAR!  There is no telling when it happened and I know of only two places it could have happened, at the studio and where I get my nails done.  I never get out and go into any store except those two places.  The office is secure, in a gated parking lot with mostly only our guys.  The studio is a possibility but more than likely it happened where I get my pedicure.  The parking there is dicey and they are next door to a medical marijuana place.  Plus several of the clients of the pedicure place are extremely elderly and have rather large cars...AND CAN'T PARK WORTH A WHIT!  I can almost guarantee that is where it happened.  Well, The Hubby and I jumped into my car and ran down the street where our body guy is (we have a lot of vehicles) to get an estimate, $850 to repair my car.  I haven't had my first oil change yet because I haven't been able to put even close to 5,000 miles on the thing.  Pisses me off to no end but it is what it is.

I am SOoooooo over Winter this week.  It wouldn't be so bad IF I had my paint brushes but I took them to the studio because I needed my newer brushes there.  Now I have nothing to paint with.  CRAP!

I guess I could clean out my pantry, but I really don't want to do that.  I could work on purging my cookbooks and maybe I will.  Or, maybe I'll just read a book.  Oh gosh, I hate being cooped up here without being able to paint.  

Speaking of good books, I just finished one for my book club (we zoom) called "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michele Richardson.  What a great book.  My mother would have loved this book.  I think it's classified as historical fiction about the Kentucky Pack Horse Library service in the 1930's and the Blue's of Kentucky.  Look the blue people of Kentucky up, talk about interesting.  I mean the ending was a bit predictable but it was a really good read.  

I Don't Want To Be INSIDE!

Thursday I tried, oh how I tried to scoot off to the cabin, but alas, it was not going to happen.  By the end of the day I was pooped and didn't want to drive an hour.  Should have, but didn't.  That's really okay because I did fly off there early Friday morning.  It was so, SO very quiet once I arrived with Clayton as my wing-man in his crate.  My friend Peggy and her hubby Tom invited me to eat tacos with them and I very quickly said YES.  The Hubby wasn't coming until Saturday but that was not going to stop me.  I know tacos were not on the diet but there were no beans and a smidgen of cheese.  The kicker was that Tom bestowed upon me a ice cream drumstick because he knows how I LOVE those things.  I couldn't say no could I.  I happily ate it.  Saturday night (last night) we went to another cabin Lesa and John's for ribs (Tom cooked), potato salad (I made by the request of Tom - he LOVES my potato salad), baked beans and a nice gin and tonic.  It was a very nice evening with friends.  

The cabin experience has been so much more calm and quiet since the upheaval that happened this spring.  I won't go into it but IT WAS NOT A GOOD THING!!!  Now life is back to normal and I am back in my happy spot, my screened porch.  

This weekend I felt the need to sketch.  I grabbed my bag of sketching stuff from the studio and Saturday I sketched all day long.  It was quite fun and wonderful practice.  

Friday evening I took a golf cart ride to check out the water levels and they area still up, up, up but are definitely down.  We probably won't be able to get to the actual creekbank until August or September.  Sure ruins a kids summer of swimming in the creek with all the flooding.  The geese love it though. 

Oooo, found these lovely black-eye Susan's and hope to have another painting soon. 

Don't you love this gate!!!  I love the turquoise blue of it and want to incorporate it somehow into a painting. 

Then it was back to my happy place, in my chair, lounged back watching the bird feeders and the multitude of sweet birdies flocking in for dinner.  Gosh I love this screened porch.   

Sadly time for the bird watching, life contemplating, and general laziness comes to an end on Sunday mornings as I have to head back to reality.  As I climbed in my car and started up the road, the dappled light filters through the trees onto the road and I feel like I'm in a dream, a dazed dream of joy.  

The beauty our little heaven on earth has to offer is something I could never give up, ever.   

When we get there it's like I'm home, truly home.   

But sadly we do have to come back to life and the reality that we still have to work.  Someday we can stay past Monday, Tuesday...

As I got closer and closer to home I snapped a few shots from the car window.  I wasn't sure how they would turn out because I just snapped without looking!  A little cropping and they turned out beautiful.  In fact, may have to paint one or two of them.

I'm actually writing this on our porch at home because I don't want to go inside  I love being outside when the it's warm, I don't care how warm.  I go outside to soak up the fresh air and rejuvenate myself. 

Summer Fun

Sunrise, sunset, slowly go the years...

It has been a whirlwind of nearly two weeks celebrating and spending much needed family time with THE ENTIRE FAMILY!  My happy place with my most happy family rushed off to the cabin for the annual fireworks show and incredible sunsets.   

First, a quick update on Clayton.  He is doing so well and hopefully the bandages will come off today.  He's spinning for his dinner and has been caught jumping up on the furniture, sometimes not successfully.  Our little guy is on the mend.  He has been playing with his doggy friends Mondo and Vinny which was a great joyful surprise.  He is eating and sleeping like a champ.  I think we will have him around for a few more wonderful years.  

As I said before Af and Nick drove in from LA for a visit and a baby shower for the new munchkin that arrives in October. 

All the girls are here.  Three generations in attendance.

Time spent with their goofball dad... 

My wonderful, WONDERFUL girls!!!!!

Then, we as an entire family unit, scooted off to the cabin to enjoy the annual fireworks show (I don't enjoy anymore after The Hubby's fireworks accident several years ago!)  I was in charge of the four-legged friends, Clayton, Mondo and Vinny since the big guys have a bit of fear with fireworks.

We lounged...

We ate... 

We laughed and had a most wonderful time before the tribe grows by one in a few short months. 

My summer is complete.

Sunshine, Painting and Friends

Good morning all.  A beautiful Sunday morning it is.  I could have slept in but alas that was not to be.  I was up and awake at five this morning.  It is frustrating to not be able to sleep in anymore but the good thing is that I am a morning person now.  Had a visitor outside the bathroom window peeking in at me.  He's still a baby.

We headed to the cabin Friday afternoon for an evening of chitter-chatter with friends and a good meal.  Up Saturday and a quick gab session and coffee with Harri next door but back in town for The Hubby.  His dance people were bringing in a professional for some extra lessons and he didn't want to miss out on that.  I was fine with it and spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the backyard in my air-chair, a good book and cold glass of iced tea.  Life is grand!  

Friday evening was dinner at Clancy's of which consisted of yummy BBQ!  It was a nice easy evening of visiting, a few gin and tonics and a wonderful snapshot of shadows and beauty in her cabin.  I think I will have to try and paint this one for sure.  I've already painted one from a snapshot I took from her kitchen window.  Her cabin is just darling and has been featured in one of Charles Faudree's decorating books a few years ago, since he designed the inside.

Art has been fun lately as I'm working on a very intense realism topiary from a photo I took on the trip to Moss Mountain Farm and Marlsgate Plantation a month ago.  It has been so much fun but to loosen up I've also been doing some mixed media with watercolor, pen and markers.  Fun stuff and selling a bit too.  If you notice on the right side of my blog there is a link to Daily Paintworks.  I've been a member of that website for over a year but had not been able to navigate or find the time to navigate it to add my paintings to sell.  Well, this past week I finally did it and now have an avenue for people to see some of my work and SELL!  It's cool because I can link it to Facebook and the third day they actually picked one of mine to feature on their page!!!!  So very excited about that.  I haven't sold any yet on the page but I'm sure I will.  I definitely get a lot of traffic on my page now!  

Tuesday evening was also a night out with friends, Bev and Kelly.  We have season tickets to the Broadway show at the PAC with them now and makes a nice evening of dinner and a show with friends.  It was 42nd Street which The Hubby was not too much of a fan of.  I loved it.  We had dinner at Wild Fork and of course I had to snap a photo of the table.  

Always looking for a painting aren't I.  

Summer is going by way too fast for me.  I know everyone is HATING the heat but I LOVE IT!!! I love the sunshine, the warmth the warm glow that I see when I am out there.  I love summer and I'm sorry we are having a heat wave but hey, IT'S SUMMER!  I go outside and sit and just soak up the heat.  It's healing for me.  

Have a great day, week!

A Perfect Picture of Summer

As a painter this should be an easy task challenge given by Mama Kat at Mama's Losin' It!  Her writing prompt this week is "What five images paint a perfect picture of summer to you?  I could probably paint that better than I can write it so let's see where I go.  Images, what do I think of when I see summer in my mind.

My first thought of summer is bright light, crisp clean shining light that sprinkles down through the rich green leaves of the trees.  You can feel the light on your skin.  After a dreary winter of gray-blue cold I look forward to the warmth of the sun in summer.  Yellow, I see yellow.  Warm yellow glow all around as summer is upon us again.  You will never, EVER hear me complain about summer, I LOVE it!  I especially love when spring comes and the green just starts appearing everywhere.  It rejuvenates me every season and I soak up the feel, sound and smells of summer.  The colors are so vibrant around you; lemon yellow sunlight, green trees and grass, cerulean blue skies with the whitest and puffiest clouds.  How can you not love this season.  I have hope and promise in the summertime.  Life just gets better.

I'm also transported to the gardens.  I refer to "the gardens" because that is what we called it when I was a young one.  The summer meant a ride to Boggs Farms in Bixby, Oklahoma.  We would pile in the car very early and head off before the white heat of the day to either pick our own vegetables or purchase already picked.  You used to be able to walk down the rows of green beans, black eye peas, squash, cantalopes, etc., and pick a bushel all on your own.  We kids would follow along the dusty rows and help snap off the peas or find the perfect watermelon with Momma and Granny.  It was hot and dusty and the smell of fresh produce permeated the air.  I can't remember if we picked tomatoes but we would definitely buy bushels of them to can and the smell of bushels and bushels of vine ripe tomatoes was intoxicating.  What a fantastic treat.  Later in the season, late June or early July would be Silver Queen corn that we would be there early for.  You would try to get there early, get a number and be one of the first to get a bushel or two of the fresh picked corn.  Corn you have to work up quickly to keep the sweet which turns to starch the longer it is out of the field.  The drive home with a carload of fresh vegetables was exciting.  Of course back then we didn't have air conditioning in the car either so the smell was intensified by the building heat of the day.

Quickly home the kitchen or backyard would be set up as a corn shucker station or pea shelling group.  I can remember when Mother used to make pepper relish.  We would bring home bushels of white onions and large green peppers.  Mother got the idea that chopping was just way too slow so she would break out the hand grinder and that would be my brother's job to turn the crank.  Can you imagine the smell of a bushel of onions being hand ground for that pepper relish.  Even the dogs and cats were crying.  You would almost dehydrate yourself from shedding tears but in the end we knew that the product was well worth it with the fall brown beans and cornbread.  

Now we have farmers markets around town to get our vegetables, not like the old days (yes I said it, OLD DAYS) when you would actually go where the vegetables were grown by the acres and actually see the rows and rows of yellow squash, gigantic watermelons, peas, corn as far as the eye could see.  What an experience for a child. This was summer for me!  

Not only did we go to the gardens for vegetables but we also go peaches, lots and lots of peaches and mother would make homemade peach ice cream.  Hand cranked in the backyard as we added ice and rock salt the the sweating churn.  Oh my goodness that was the best thing in the world.  I think fresh, fragrant peach smell is the ultimate in the summer heat after a long day shucking, shelling and canning.  

The only thing topping off that kind of day would be if we were at my Greatgranny's in Jay, Oklahoma at Rattlesnake Holler' and load up in back of Greatgrandaddy's old 1940's black pickup and head to the creek.  Oh my goodness, it could be 110 degrees outside and that spring fed creek was like ice, but it was so refreshing.  The water so clear you saw ever rock and crawdad underneath the swirling water.  What a fantastic summer it would be when you took you bath in the creek (no inside bathroom) and cool off then back to the house for fresh homemade ice cream with strawberries or peaches.  

Life was the best in my childhood that is for sure.  It could not have been better.  I miss those summers of lounging around, helping with the canning, reading Trixie Beldon books.  The days of my youth.  I love these memories and images.

Summer Vacation

I don't know about you but when I was a young whipper-snapper summer vacation to me was simple.  By simple I mean we finally would get to sleep in and I don't think that task has changed much over the past few generations.  Sleep, that glorious sleep.  It's funny that as you get older you seem to require less and now I love to get up before the chickens.  It's hard for me to sleep in now, but when I was a young'n, I could sleep well till past noon.  

Summer meant swimming, lots and lots of swimming.  Swimming lessons, swimming pools, friends, lake swimming.  We camped a lot when I was young too.  In fact our summer vacations were camping for an entire week.  We really couldn't afford much more than that and we loved it.  Cooking on a campfire (mother hated it because of cooking and cleaning up), swimming, fishing, swimming, sleeping, swimming.  Yes we swam a lot and were in the sun constantly which will probably come back in my old age to bite me in the butt with my dermatologist.  From sunburn to tan to crispy we lived outdoors.  Today we slather our kids with so much sunscreen that they have vitamin D deficiencies.  My hair would sometimes turn green we were in so much chlorine from swimming pools.  

 There was also the annual trip to the zoo with Granny that started our summer off.

We so looked forward to seeing the lions, tigers and bears, OH MY.  Granny would either pack a lunch or we would take Harden's Country Fried Chicken with us to eat when we got there.  The one and only time we had an actual picnic.  It was a very long drive to the zoo, because Granny ALWAYS drove and she drove at least 15 miles under the speed limit, but we loved it.  It was tradition.  

Sometime during the summer we would go to Jay (Oklahoma) to our great-grandparents for a week.  Momma would stay because she loved to being there too.  It was hot, hot, hot.  They lived in Rattlesnake Hollow and the house was not air-conditioned but we survived with daily trips to the cold, COLD creek to cool off.  That meant a ride in the back of the pick-up which was a highlight.

(See the patch on my swimsuit...it was for Junior Lifesaving) 

There was homemade ice cream, cookouts on the creek bank and loads of time wondering around the yard and house.  We iced cookies and graham crackers and when those ran out, saltine crackers.  Greatgranny was awesome showing us flowers and bugs and how to milk a cow.  Great-granddaddy let us help pick vegetables from his huge garden and trips to pick up eggs, which was harrowing in his old pickup truck.  He was a speed demon!  

Summers were just too short.  We hardly spent time inside at all.  We rode our bicycles around and around and around the block.  We probably put at least 20 miles on those bikes just in our neighborhood alone.  We were lucky to have lots of neighborhood kids living close and our backyard was large for playing softball.  There were three trees that served as our 1st, 2nd and 3rd base and the outfield was the neighbors yard, that was huge.  We could hit the ball clear over that yard and to the side street if we were lucky enough.  Our children now are never ever left unsupervised for years.  Gosh, we would go out in the morning and come back in to grab a bite of lunch and then out again.  We were on the go constantly and if we complained about being bored, well, mother would find something for us to do, CHORES!

Summer was laughter with friends, exercise, play time, sunshine and carefree.  We weren't constantly put into summer camps, like I did for my girls.  We were honestly kind of free to enjoy time off from the halls of school.  I think we spend too much time trying to occupy our children's time so they don't get bored.  The only thing we were scheduled for in the summer were the mandatory (Mom's) swimming lessons.  

I miss MY childhood summers.  I miss those innocent and free times in my life.  

Thanks Kat from Mama's Losin' It for the suggestion of blog prompts.  Took me down memory lane.  

Random 5 Friday

Random 5 Friday is at hand.  If you would like to join in then please our host, Nancy at A Rural Journal to see how it's done!

• I read the local paper every single day and the most interesting section for me are the obits.  Not that I'm morbid but I read to make sure I DON'T know anyone listed.  I'm also struck by the fear that I will someday grace these lists of the dearly departed and as time passes the time gets nearer and nearer.  The ages of a lot of them are at least 58 -70 years old and I realize that I will soon be 58!  EGADS!!!
• Insurance, we all have some sort of insurance don't we.  We have life insurance, health insurance, auto insurance, fire and casuality insurance, liability insurance, worker's compensation insurance, general liability insurance...oh I could go on forever.  We met with our "insurance" guy yesterday for the business insurance and I am struck by the absurdity of just having to have insurance.  Really it is for the "What If" in your life, be it home or in business.  Frankly, we have had a couple of instances in our business to use the "What If" factor in insurance.  I think the only one benefiting in the industry are the insurance companies on our "What If" fear.  
• The wind lately blowing around is just about to drive me crazy.  I am hoping it is helping to blow away this stupid never-ending winter that just keeps hanging on.  It is almost April and we are still having below freezing temperatures!  Enough already.  My hammock is calling my name please.
  
• This random stuff is kind of hard.  When I think of something that is random enough to write about I'm usually in my car with no paper or pen and no place to write it down.  
• Anyone want some zebra finches.  About 3 years ago a friend called me, since she knew I already had birds, to ask if I wanted some zebra finches.  The story was that a lady friend of hers daughters had given her 4 zebra finches for Mother's Day and she absolutely, under no uncertain terms, HATED them and was going to let them out the front door.  Well, for one thing the little guys are African and not meant for Oklahoma, maybe the summer but not the winter.  Especially the winter we've had here.  I fell for the story and took the little fluttery things in and quickly discovered that there were two males and two females.  Thank goodness I had lots of cages to separate them.  I love birds but I'm really ready to find them some new homes.  I'm tired of taking care of them but will continue because that is what I signed on for but I really would like to find them another home.  Have to get hard at work at that be it the zoo or Craig's List or maybe an assisted living center!  

In Mourning

A sadness is upon me this lovely fall day.  What, did I say, fall!  That is the problem.  Fall is here, it is upon us and I am in mourning.  I am mourning the end of summer, or what little summer we've had. Fall is quite lovely but I do so love the summer and our summer was almost non-existent this year.  Not enough of the hammock dwelling that I so enjoy.  Oh well, on to warmer clothes, hot tea or cocoa, soups and fires in the fire pit.  Bring it on.