HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR

Today is my sweet husband's birthday.  I hope it has been a good one for him.  I had a little party for him at lunch and he has received lots of birthday wishes by phone and e-mail and from the neighbors.  Unfortunately he had a meeting tonight so we could not have a party for him, but the week is not over yet!  ;) Heh! Heh!

This picture was taken on Christmas day.  The dog, Nero, belongs to Son #3.  Surprises still ahead!

I'M BACK!

I have been away from my blog so long that I totally forgot how to post a new entry to the blog.  Shame on me!  Looking back, I am not sure what I have done in those months, but here is a thumbnail sketch of events and happenings:

1) We settled into our newly remodeled house nicely and have frequent visitors--friends, family, grandchildren.  It is wonderful to have room for everyone without having the kids sleep on couches in living room and den.  It is also wonderful to have my art room where I have had a place to work on whatever project I am involved in at the moment.  My art table has been a sewing table, a painting table, a writing table, a Christmas gift wrapping table, and a place where grandchildren can explore various arts and crafts when they come.  Below are a couple of pictures that I painted and gave for Christmas presents.

2) I got a new computer!  #$%&%$!!  I thoroughly DISLIKE changing computers!  My brain balks at shifting from old ways of doing things to new ways. And, not only did I get a new computer, but I changed from using a Dell PC to (Gasp!!) a Mac!  Let me tell you--IT HAS BEEN A REAL LEARNING CURVE!  If I hear one more time, "It's very intuitive..." to describe Apple products, I think I will scream!  Somehow my "intuitive" instincts are missing!  The redeeming factor is that there is an Apple Store just ten minutes from where I live and I have become very familiar with their Genius Bar and have taken all the classes that they offer.  However, I am STILL learning.

3)  We had a brutally hot and dry summer.  We had put in all new landscaping the year before and we spent a good deal of time outside hand-watering to keep things alive.  As the temperatures rose and persisted, we seemed to wilt while we tried to stay cool and hydrated.  Fortunately, we have had some lovely rains the past couple of months but not nearly enough to fill up our lovely lakes.  The picture below was taken when Son #2 and family came at Christmas and we explored a part of a nearby lake that is usually 40 feet below water.

While other parts of the country had way too much rain, we had absolutely none!  And then the wildfires started around our area.  Fortunately, they stayed away from here, but I do have two emergency evacuation bags with important papers and a few clothes ready "just in case."

4) I also facilitate two writing groups.  These groups are designed to help women write their memoirs.  One group has been meeting for almost ten years and the other group has been meeting in a retirement center for about five years.  These women LOVE to write their stories and I never grow tired of hearing their stories and sharing mine with them.

Happy New Year to anyone who has not given up on me and is still reading my blog.

A BUDDING NEW ARTIST

Our 4-year-old granddaughter is very proud of her art.  She likes to visit Art USA and 'study' their modern art.  When she finished a particular painting, she wanted to take it down to Art USA and show it to the nice lady, Melissa, who works there.  Melissa really made over her painting and then asked Arrie if she wanted to exhibit at their place.  Arrie agreed, so Melissa put her art work on an easel by the front door and it is now on display there.  She asked Arrie if she wanted to sell her art and Arrie readily agreed.  Guess I need to take salesmanship lessons from Miss Arrie!!

GOOD ADVICE AT ANY AGE...

SON #3 NEXT TO NEPHEW

Yesterday was our oldest grandson’s 16th birthday (white shirt in the picture).  One of his uncles (Son #3 in orange shirt next to him in picture) posted the following advice for him:

Happy bday Nephew!!
Advice from your wise and worldly Uncle Ross:
Live life by these 3 simple rules:

1. Duty: Always remember your moral, family and employment obligations
2. Honor: Honor thy father and thy mother and whomever else knows your true heart
3. Loyalty: Always remain loyal to yourself and your family. And ALWAYS Remain true to your word.

(Now I may have 'borrowed' the above rules from a military basis, but these can obviously be applied to a non-military situation).

P.S. And one last piece of advice: women are drawn to us Flathouse men like moths to a flame...don't marry the 1st moth that comes ur way...marry the one u can't live without (or wait until u are at least til your 30!).

Seeing values like these being passed down to the next generation makes me proud!  Thanks, Son #3!!  The picture above was taken last Thanksgiving.  It shows all our sons (Son #2, Son #4--the tallest one, Son #3, our grandson, my husband, and Son #1).  I am very proud of all of them!


By the way, after this message to young grandson appeared, I looked out the window of my art room and saw my husband leaning on the back of his pickup and two neighborhood women were standing there in earnest conversation with him.  Perhaps there is great truth in the post script above??

A LOVELY MOON

I took the following picture of our full moon peeking out from behind the clouds this evening.  I would love to paint this picture!

I saw a painting in pastels at an art show last weekend that was similar to this.  Wonder what I could do with oils??

AN AMAZING ADVENTURE…

Today I stopped in Michaels to buy a new canvas for a painting that I am planning and an older gentleman, with a felt hat on his wispy white hair and clothes a bit large for his slight frame, was standing in the aisle with two large canvases.  He said to me, “Are you going to compete with me?”  I grinned and said, “Probably not,” because my canvas was half the size of his.  I asked him if he was an artist and he laughed and said that he had painted a pope, a Texas woman governor, and a flower for Lady Bird Johnson.  He said his specialty was portraits and I asked if he gave lessons because I am woefully inept at painting portraits.  He told me that I was NOT inept but just had not made enough mistakes in painting portraits to learn the correct way to do them.  He told me to NEVER quit trying. 

Next, this man asked me what I painted and I told him that I love painting flowers and he said, “I can guess that you paint very tightly with your nose almost against the canvas.”  I threw back my head and laughed because that is a VERY accurate description of the way I paint.  He said, “You must learn to paint FREELY!  Let the paint flow!  And always paint in BRIGHT colors because they are the best!”

As he started wandering toward the checkout counter, he turned back to me and said, “Look me up.  I am Walter Meyer and I live on Lake Shore Drive.”  So, I came home and looked him up.  What an amazing story this man has and I am still pinching myself that I was actually talking to him. 

It turns out that Walter Meyer is a German concentration camp survivor who, according to his biography, miraculously recovered from his experiences in the concentration camp and escaped finally to South America.

He earned three doctorates, worked as an interpreter for President Lyndon Johnson, practiced as a psychologist, and taught at the University of Texas.  He also tried running a German restaurant but, when faced with financial difficulties, discovered he could sell his art work for large sums of money.  This led to a commission to do a painting of the head of Christ for Pope John Paul II, a portrait of Ann Richards, governor of Texas, and also a painting for Lady Bird Johnson—a bluebonnet.

The article about Meyer says that he has a bright outlook on life and views the bits of nature around his house with great pleasure.  And I am still pinching myself that I stood in the same aisle of Michaels and talked with this delightful gentleman with such an astonishing background.  I can hardly wait to find a copy of his biography, Tomorrow Will Be Better, and read more about Walter Meyer!

WE HAD SNOW!!!

Snow was predicted for Friday but we did not see one snowflake by the time we went to bed.  The weatherman said that we probably did not have enough moisture for snow and it might miss us.  Great was our surprise when we got up early Friday morning to find our yard covered with a beautiful blanket of white snow!  To make things a bit more interesting, the weatherman said we had rain and sleet before the snow started about 3 a.m. and it was very slick under the soft snow.  The news stations were warning everyone to stay home and off the streets.

It was beautiful in our neighborhood.  This is an early morning view from my upstairs art room.

This is a picture of the front of our house as my husband and I prepared to venture out in the snow.

A view below of my frozen pond.

And the ledges contained many cat footprints.  Evidently the cat that has adopted my husband was busy patrolling the perimeter of our house to protect us from any dangerous snow flakes during the night.  We found her huddled on our back porch waiting for her early morning petting and then she went on her way exploring this new white stuff that was covering her pathway.

Snow does not happen in our part of the world very often, so we enjoyed the experience for several hours until the temperatures warmed up and it quickly disappeared.  Today it is a balmy 64 degrees with bright sunshine.  It is hard to stay indoors today!