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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Good Golly Miss Molly


We have a new family member! (no, definitely NOT that!).....we have a new puppy!

I honestly wasn't thinking about another dog after losing our Roscoe last summer.....but, my son's therapist has a dog that had puppies. Of course my son came home desperately wanting to buy a puppy......and that got us to thinking, "well...maybe...we'll see", we said.



We did NOT buy a puppy from the therapist, but instead, we looked online one day last week, and there was Molly! She is a chocolate brown one year old miniature schnauzer. She has been to obedience school (but I think she has forgotten a lot of what she's learned!).


She is house trained and does a few commands.....and of course, she is adorable. So, we sent in our application to our local Humane Society, and we learned that there were five other families hoping to adopt her. We went to meet her and then "interview" for her (I've never had to interview for a pet before!)...and I'm glad we did, because the next day we got the call that Molly was ours!

So, please meet Molly! I tried to get a few photos of her, but she doesn't sit still long enough.....most of the photos are a big brown blur!

~*~*~*~*~

Oh, and it is the first of the month....update day! I just had time to make one offering.
A bee skep painting~ Me on TDIPT


I was busy partly because of Molly (she is very active), and partly because Lana and I have an update surprise in the works...coming soon!

Happy April~



Monday, March 21, 2011

Robins, Worms and Bulbs


When a robin cocks his head
Sideways in a flower bed,
Does he hear the tiny sound
Of a worm beneath the ground?
......anonymous




This little bird sat still outside our back patio yesterday morning. He was quietly listening (you could tell!) for a snack to appear. In one photo, if you enlarge and look closely, you can see him pulling the worm from the ground.......awwww Spring!


(hmmmmm, our backyard grass is a lot greener than our front yard grass!)




Although the weather is a little damp, it has warmed up a bit and after a shower of sleet on Saturday, my husband and I went to the local nursery to "feed our weary winter souls".

We found a few plants that may or may not bloom, or even survive....they were in the "reduced" bin. But we are always up for a challenge! (...and I did save the receipt, just in case!)

We also bought several packages of bulbs, and hopefully in a few weeks our yard will have some new and beautiful colors.

Happy Spring! I hope you are able to do something "spring-like" to welcome the new season.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Creatures of Creative Habits


Disclaimer: Before you begin reading (if you choose to do so), just know that this post was more of a cathartic exercise for me. So, I hope it doesn't come across as whiny, but, rather as me just being honest. I'm not whiny, I don't like whiny....so, please don't read this with a whiny voice in mind!.....just my honest evaluation that will have a purpose and a conclusion at the end. That sounded "deep" didn't it? :)

Okay, this blog has suffered long enough. This year my focus has been more on getting my older son through his senior year of high school than on my art or spending time preparing a blog post....or even visiting other blogs, which I really love to do!

We home school, but that doesn't make the school work any easier, just the hours you do it a little more flexible. His senior year is not quite over....but we are 'coming in on the home stretch' (I know absolutely nothing about racing, but that phrase sounds like it fits here!).

The 'home stretch' aside, he has also started his journey into adulthood having turned eighteen recently and with that, comes all the things that eighteen means as an adult with a disability. He has autism, and the jump from juvenile to adult programs/therapies and support is a big one. And just because he is an adult now doesn't mean he is capable of handling all of these transitions on his own, of course not. So that is an added "plate in the air" to keep twirling......or hat to wear, now that I'm seen as a "caregiver" rather than his mother. (I know, I know, I'll always be his mother....but the state and national agencies don't see it that way.) It's a big learning curve for me...and let's face it, I'm not getting any younger so the brain cells are becoming more limited! :)




All of this takes a lot of time, and mostly it's been time away from creating..... I miss that, just thinking about painting, drawing, or doing something creative.....that has always been my "sanity" net.

As you can see in previous posts, I have made time to paint something fast for updates, etc. The "creative juices" have to flow fast, but thankfully, I've been able to think of something to paint or create when "update day" rolls around. But I don't like the "rushed" feeling, I'd like to take more time in preparing things, more than just a few days before update day to be creative.

I've decided (and here is the purpose and conclusion part) that I need to "Create Time"....not in the literal sense, but just by carving out a part of my day to sit, think, create.
I schedule my boys' routines on a daily basis, so why not do the same for myself?

So, with spring on the way, I'm beginning to prepare for a new season inside and out.

Spring hasn't actually been notified of its ETA here in Boise. The days are still cold, snowy, rainy, with dark clouds, and sometimes sleet and hail....the phrase is, 'If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes', is very true this year! (and that may be contributing to my "folk art funk".)


(click on the photo to see the book on Amazon, and if you have the Kindle app downloaded onto your computer....or ,if you actually have a Kindle, you can download the first chapter for free. I have the book just so I can write things in the margins, :)
To help with my self-imposed, self-discipline plan, I also discovered an interesting book for anyone artistically inclined, be it painting, dancing, writing, composing music, playing an instrument....or any creative endeavor. I've only read the first 70 pages or so, but I've enjoyed Ms. Tharp's insight so far. She is a well-known dancer/choreographer, so I was a little unsure about how it would apply to me personally at first, but...

It is a practical book (so says the subtitle) and she includes exercises (no, not dance exercises...thank goodness!), but creative exercises to s-t-r-e-t-c-h those limited brain cells of mine. This book offers straightforward practical, applicable, accounts of her own creative habits. I like that....I'm a practical thinker, I'm a concrete learner....I like detail in my art (although I'm trying to be a little more "free-flowing"....that's a later post).

Ahhhh, deep breath, well thanks, if you read this far. Like I mentioned, it has been a cathartic exercise for me, hope it wasn't too self- indulgent. Maybe you can relate to some of this as a Mom, artist, or otherwise creative creature. :)

Promise: next post will be much more uplifting...and maybe the sun will be out too. If not, my artistic attitude will at least be stretched, and hopefully in better shape! :)