Tantivy

First up is the latest painting , shown on the floor for lack of anywhere that didn't have a competing background. It is a strange little piece, but I rather like it. I had fun researching the "B" things and the blossom and giving them a try. I have the next piece in my mind but have to go get the canvas or paper out of the cold studio tomorrow so I can begin. I think that it will be quite different.  On Friday after Thanksgiving, while Dean, Greg and the girls worked on the fence, Alex tackled taking down the ceiling boards in the basement prior to the electrician coming here to rewire the house and bring it up to code. The house was once heated by coal and the coal dust was thick on the top of the ceiling boards. He was this dirty from head to toe and anyone who carried a single board out to the street to be picked up was also dirty. The kids did some blowing of the leaves and Morgan, Greg's son, cut the grass with my battery powered lawn mower. He did...

On Saturday Dean and I have been getting together with my sister and brother and sister-in-law for breakfast. We are trying different places each week, checking out various diners to find the best. Last Saturday, though, Kay had made plans to go to Knoxville with friends and the other four of us had breakfast at Casa Carolina. I tried an oatmeal dish I had found on   Carol's blog . There were a few problems. I had to change the setting on the stove which required that I touch "start" again, but since it was already hot and I just wanted to raise the temp I forgot all about starting it again so when I went to take the pumpkin steel cut oatmeal out of the oven, it wasn't done. We began with the stewed pears (from my neighbor's tree - very tasty) and cooked the oatmeal on top of the stove, but it had to be stirred and got too creamy. I think that next time I will use a little less of the ground cloves. We still had a good time together, but I suggested that we find...

Vicki walked to my house Tuesday, then we walked to the library, then to her house and after checking out her newest painting and fortifying myself with a cup of coffee, I walked back. We passed the huge Ginko tree, which is turning yellow( it will all be as yellow as that top section) and I had to snap a picture to show you. When we turned around there was this red one. The trees this fall have had beautiful color and it has lasted for weeks. Everywhere I go I find myself saying or thinking, "Oh, look at that one. And look at  that  one!" It is wonderful to be surrounded by such beauty. On sunny days the sky is blue enough to make you cry. We in the USA think of November as Thanksgiving, but it is a most beautiful month and certainly shows us much for which to be thankful. On another front, my hairdryer gave up. Dr. Kervorkian, who officiated at its death and helped it along, has ordered a replacement for me but it hasn't come yet. Meanwhile I am dry...

Dean and I went to our daughter's house to "babysit" this weekend since both Jenny and Alex were busy with the All Tennessee Lutheran Youth event at their church. We had a great time and I took some pics to share with you. Drew is nine, nearly ten, and is most often found reading or playing games on iPad or computer. He has a very sweet spirit and is very protective of and gentle with his sister although he is sometime irritated with her. Now that she is in school and has more people to play with she doesn't demand so much time from him; she used to drive him crazy with demands to play with her. I choose the word "demands" because that is just what she did. We were very glad when Sarie,who is five, began school. She is in public kindergarden and enjoying having work to do and other kids to play with. While we were there she spent most of the day at Charlotte's house and seemed to have a great time. She also loves our dogs and wants them to play with...

Wednesday was the last art class of this session. We had a "show and tell/critique"so each of us could see what the others have been doing and offer any suggestions we had for finishing the piece. I was very encouraged by the reception given my work. Sandy mentioned how bad my first efforts were (not in quite those words; she was kind) and how I had improved when I began finding my own style. There was some really good work there; the best thing is that there is no competition but a real willingness to have everyone shine. I almost hate to show you these photos, because they are not good. The lighting in the living room at night is not adequate at all and I haven't brought in my easel to set up in a better place. Lazy me. I guess that you can get an idea, however. I have made my next pour with very different, pastel colors, but it is not dry yet. Maybe next time. I must look at it for a while to find what it will be. When I showed you the bloss...

I took a walk in my neighborhood today and looked at berries and blossoms and I want to share them with you just in case you weren't able to take a Sunday afternoon walk. I didn't walk far; I had on my Tennessee orange heels and even though they are low, they are heels. First stop was in my yard, and my neighbor's across the drive we share. Her Cornus florida ( dogwood ) still has lots of berries but the birds have stripped ours. She is also the one who has the lovely pink camellia. The robins really love dogwood berries and our tree is in the sun more than hers is so they come to mine first. The leaves are all off ours also and that gives the birds an easier snack than this with leaves still hanging.  Dogwoods are so pretty from spring when they are covered with blooms through their summer leaves to the red berries of fall and right on through the tracery of their twiggy branches all winter. Unfortunately, many of them , including ours, are suffering from a blig...

When Dean was a young boy, his older brother was glad to tell him that there is no Santa Claus and I think that his mother disabused of the notion of the Easter Bunny but no one told him that there is no dirty clothes fairy . That would be the fairy who picks up your clothes, takes them to the basement to wash them, gets them dried, folds them lugs them back upstairs and places them neatly in the proper places. Today I told him. He was broken hearted. Poor baby, he thought that if you dropped your dirty clothes in a pile the dirty clothes fairy always came by. Sometimes his pile was beside the hamper. After today, no more piles . We'll see how that works. I have found a place to paint where both hands and feet are warm. Both. At the same time. It is the living room. and there lies a little story. Yesterday Sandy told us that she had thought of a word for each of us and she shared it as she went around commenting on and helping with our work. My word was "Style". Sandy ...