WILDFLOWERS

Our spring flowers are blooming now and are just beautiful! Since I have been in a flower painting mode the past six months or so, I have been snapping photos like crazy. I carry my camera in the car and sometimes stop by the side of the road and take pictures. My husband wonders how many pictures I need to take of one flower, but I really take pictures from a dozen different angles and with the light coming from all angles. I might take 20-30 pictures of one flower at different times of day and only one or two will suit me for painting.

The past few days I have been taking pictures of iris. The garden center near us has a whole plot of iris in full bloom and I must have taken a zillion pictures in the late afternoon sun. I suspect that I might do an iris series of paintings next.

Below is a picture of a hibiscus that my neighbor grew last summer and invited me down to take pictures. I just took her the finished painting as a gift.

Even with all the packing, I am planning my next paintings in my mind. And Son #3 has ordered a big sofa-sized painting of the beautiful red sandstone breaks of the Llano Estacado. Now where did I pack those large canvases?

At present I am working on a painting of a white rose--never knew so many colors could be in a "white" flower!

GOOD ADVICE?

I love the sign that I saw in a bathroom in Lubbock, TX that said:

To allow one's self to be carried away by

a multitude of conflicting concerns,

to surrender to too many demands,

to commit oneself to too many projects,

to want to help everyone in everything

is to succumb to violence,

frenzy destroys our capacity for peace.

It destroys the fruitfulness of our work

because it kills the root of inner work

which makes work fruitful.

-Thomas Merton

WAY BEHIND...

I am way behind on my family reporting. Several weeks ago we went to visit Sons #3 and #2 up north and had a wonderful time before our whirlwind of packing to move hit "fast-forward." I am sorry that I have not posted the most recent family pictures before now.

First, we visited with Son #3 and had dinner with him before heading on up to visit Son #2 and family. We even got to see Son #3 very early in the morning in his "work clothes" for a few minutes.

Next we drove a little further north and helped Em celebrate her birthday by having lunch with her and the family.


We took her birthday shopping.

We went out to their house for Em's cake and a beautiful afternoon in the country.


And then we went with the family to Em's special restaurant for dinner.

This past weekend Son #1 and family came to help us dismantle our deck and backyard landscaping to prepare for the new addition to our house during the remodel. They, along with a neighbor and my nephew and Granddaughter #1's friend, worked like Trojans and we accomplished much more than I ever hoped! We also had a little fun and some good food before they had to return home.


Thanks so much, Son #1 and family for taking the time to help us out. You literally moved a mountain of things in one short afternoon. I hope you are not too sore today.

ANOTHER BUSY DAY AT THE OLE HOME PLACE!

The past 24 hours have been hectic!

Yesterday we signed the contract on having our house completely remodeled and my rate of packing continues on a more frenzied pace all afternoon. Then things became even more interesting when I smelled gas outside last night (I have been smelling it off and on for years but no one else could! I mentioned it to our builder and he said to call the gas company the next time I smelled it) so hubby called the gas company. The gas man arrived at our door about 8:30 p.m. and found a leak by our front porch--probably been there for years. He said they had to fix it last night because it was within 10 feet of our front door. He called his supervisor who arrived about 9:30 and checked out the readings on the machine they had that detected the gas all around our front porch and front sidewalk. The supervisor called the backhoe crew and a huge truck with a mammoth digging machine arrived about 10:30 p.m.! That woke most of the neighbors up and when the men started taking out our sidewalk with a jack hammer the rest of them gathered on our front lawn. The supervisor found what he thought was the exact site of the gas leak so the men only took a large rectangular shape out of our sidewalk, and then the men began digging up the pipe. The supervisor chased all of us out of the yard and they went to work.


When it came time to cut the pipe, gas shot way up into the dark sky and the terrific whoosh of noise could be heard way in the back of our yard where I ran to hide behind our trees to avoid being blown up in case there was an explosion. My husband laughed at me, but I noticed he stayed by my side until the gas was finally cut off. The men covered up the hole and left us about 11:15 but the meter man still had to come and reset our meter and turn our gas back on. He arrived at midnight. By that time I had fallen asleep and barely heard him working on the meter. This morning we once again had hot water but I was a little bleary-eyed after so much going on. I have decided that I do not need very much more trauma/drama around here for a while!

JUST TOO BUSY!!

Seems like I have too many balls that I am trying to juggle at once right now.

We are meeting several times a week with our builder to finalize plans for the remodel of our house; I am STILL sorting and packing; I am trying to finalize the remaining details of settling Mother's estate; and I am busy with several writing groups and church responsibilities. In addition to all that, two of our neighbors have been sick so several of us in the neighborhood have rallied to help feed their families. I have only contributed food once this week but I have been the "reporter" for the neighborhood and I am trying to keep everyone informed through e-mail.

I think I need juggling lessons!

A RARE SNOW EVENT!

We hardly ever have snow here, but it came today with HUGE snowflakes and is just beautiful! The neighbors and I have been out taking pictures and enjoying the excitement of snow in our area--after 70+ temperatures just two days ago.

The neighbor's house across the street with the huge snowflakes coming down heavily.

Our house with snow sticking to the roof and grass.

Our pond with snow around it.

Jasmine (with spring flowers) and holly covered with snow.

A neighbor snapped this picture of me in the snow.

And he got out his sled--just in case!

IN COWTOWN

I came to Fort Worth with my husband and I am enjoying the city while he goes to meetings. We are staying in a newly renovated hotel with incredible, huge photographs that are the artwork in the lobby, the hallways and in our room. Below is a photograph of spurs that is over the toilet in the bathroom. I would love to paint those spurs with all of that wonderful scroll work on them!

This morning I went to the Kimbell Museum and spent several long hours with my nose up close to the beautiful paintings studying the intricacies of their brushstrokes. I especially enjoy the artists of the 1500s and 1600s. Some of those paintings have detail that is just amazing!

My brother and I have been interested in sharing photographs of cloud formations for more than a year now. I was delighted to find several paintings of cloud formations by a Fort Worth artist and thought that I could paint several pictures like this one below!

I am also taking pictures and notes about how I DO NOT want my bathroom to be renovated. The lighting in this dark brown bathroom is so poor that I am not sure where my makeup went when I put it on this morning! There is one can light over the mirror and two very dull lighting fixtures on each side. There is even a lighted magnifying mirror, but none of them cast enough light in the stylish, but poorly lighted, dark brown bathroom. And the toilet paper holder requires a great deal of flexibility in reaching almost behind my back to grab the paper. I have two pages of notes for our builder on ways that I do not want my bathroom remodeled!

Tonight we went to the Museum of Modern Art for a dinner and had a tour of the art with a docent. It was very informative and the food was wonderful! I am so glad I had this respite from packing up our house and have learned so much about art on this trip.