Isn’t this a pretty sky? Takes a lot to steal the limelight from Mingus Mountain. This was the sky last night. Teased rain, again.
Today though, we had glorious rain for well over an hour. Booming thunder. Big fat drops, loudly bouncing off the windows. Trees swaying wildly. Gutters overflowing. Mingus hidden in a blanket of grey. A most welcome “light” storm”.
I am continuing to prep for the September paint-a-thon. I taped a few sheets, and hope to add some background textures this evening. We already have 32 members. WOW!!! I am so glad the word is spreading. This is going to be fun!
The news is out. Leslie Saeta has officially decided to stop hosting the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Or perhaps It’s just September that is canceled. Christiane Drieling told me, and I do not want to misquote. Christiane has the awesome idea of hosting an informal challenge on Facebook. Yay!
Are you interested? Do you know artists who have participated before, and might like to again? Please help us spread the word. I will post the link as soon as Christiane creates the page. Ginny Butcher has decided to participate as well. Let’s’ keep the momentum going!
If 30 is too much, how about doing one a week? If you have never participated before, you can click on the link above to see the outline Leslie used. (Maybe I shouldn’t be posting that.) And maybe we will change it up a little. Stay tuned 😉
More good news. I am doing MUCH better! I haven’t had any problems since my last post. Eleven days. Woo-Whoo! Very relieved about that.
I am able to sip slightly larger sips. And take ever so slightly larger bites. Still doing the chew, chew, chew. Making sure my soft foods are completely broken up before I swallow. And it is such a relief to be able to take in more water. I am still not hitting the 64 oz. mark. Inching closer. But I do not feel water-deprived anymore. Ahh.
Not sure I have mentioned it before, but I drink water consistently throughout the day. I have a 32 oz. bottle, and prior to surgery, I think I drank 5 or six of those a day. Now I can barely do one and a half. And my skin is missing it! So dry!
So good news all around! Getting the vitamins down much more easily, water and food. Whew! I think it may have been your encouraging words! Thank you all so much! You had me in tears 🙂
There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate. Linda Grayson
Couldn’t resist. Honestly, though, I am craving salad. Lettuce. A nice crunchy salad. Toast. Mmm, avocado toast with a poached egg. OK. I’m stopping.
Maybe I was hungry when I took the photo below, but I see a fish cloud. I messed up and cut off the tail. All the other photos I took came out blurry. (I was sitting at a red light.)
I will leave you with this little bird. I was standing at the window, checking out Mingus. And he flew up on the ledge and started checking things out too. The berries, and plants of course. I turned slowly and started taking pictures of him. For a long time, he did not notice. But then he saw me. And then he was gone.
Oh, one more thing. I have finally decided what to use for my annual postcard. I will get them ordered, and have them mailed out hopefully by the middle of next month. I have had the stamps since before the surgery! Ha-ha-ha. 🙂
The site switch over is complete! Thank you, Randy, for all your hard work, in spite of a broken wrist! But I can see things are missing here. Hate that. So now I have work to do. As expected. Notice the empty bottom of this post. All the like and share buttons are missing, and the links to similar posts. I know why that happens now. Thanks to a Youtube video. Still, it is aggravating. So off to work I go. And I also hope to prep some pieces before the first. Fingers crossed.
It’s been too long since Mingus made an appearance. I know a few of you will welcome these photos, even if they are slightly dreary. I love watching the sky change.
Yesterday’s high was 93 degrees. Will be again today. The heat has come on quick. We are in our Monsoon season now. Continues through September. I am looking forward to it.
Something New And Blue
I replaced my table. Woo Whoo! I searched the internet for about a month before I found one that was “just right”. It is shorter (length) than what I had before. By about a foot. I really didn’t use the extra space much, except for storing my to-do projects. I always sat to the right, and that extra foot was out of reach. Ha-ha. Now I find myself sitting fairly center, and I can reach just about everything I need to.
This led to relocating my art supplies and do-dads. I have two drawer units on the right side of the table, (3 drawers, the plastic cheapo’s from Walmart). On top of them, I have my printer. So much easier to access, before it was under the table. Now it sits a couple of inches higher than the table top.
The table is from IKEA. Solid pine. The top has a clear lacquer that is “easy to clean, resistant to liquids, food stains, oil, heat, scratches, and bumps”. It is warm and, welcoming. It came with white legs. I painted them Prussian blue. But honestly, they are in shadow and look black to everyone else. Ha-ha.
I ACTUALLY managed to build it myself! HA!! The aprons and legs had to be attached to the top. Here’s an interesting tidbit. Prussian blue is used as a medication to treat radioactive cesium poisoning. Good to know.
New Studio Table.
Was A Bear
I have been in hibernation mode. Two months since my last post. I started writing this one over a month ago. Well, I thought I had started. I really had just prepped the photos, and placed them in the post.
I had three long days chauffeuring my folks around Phoenix at the beginning of my “hibernation”. I knew I would need a few days recovery. But the tired turned into a flare, and that turned into me having cold symptoms. The recovery from that was another two weeks. A month and a half later, and I am still feeling more tired than my Lupus usual.
As a result, I am not creating much. I am managing to stay productive otherwise. I started two pieces about a month ago. Mixed media on panels, they will be gifts. I applied scraps of papers, part of a decorated tissue box, and some leaf skeletons I have had for over ten years.
WIP, starting with scraps.
I used a comb, stencils and various tools to apply paint. That was a week ago. I’ll get back to them later this week. (I had another busy three days in Phoenix, with friends from So. Cal. And of course, that meant recovery time as well.) The pieces are close to being finished, I am hoping to complete them this weekend.
WIP still. Adding layers of paint.
I am still not sure what these two paintings will become. I will keep you posted.
Surprise Spring Snowfall
Late Snow on Mingus. 5-23-19, SMD.
On the road at 5:30 am, I saw this. Snow on the hills. On May 23rd! Halfway to Phoenix, it was sunny and warm, and the sky was clear.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Rabbit
Bunny Huddle. 6-10-19. SMD
It’s been a long time since I have spotted a rabbit. This little one was tiny. Just before dark, he was hanging out. A couple came walking by, they were on the other side of the street. As soon as he heard them, he crouched down. Like a cat stalking its prey. He tucked in his ears and got as low as he possibly could. He became one with the earth. Ha-ha.
When it was safe, he slowly, very slowly, began to rise. He looked like a balloon that was being inflated. Finally, one ear popped up, then the other. And then he was gone.
All Clear. 6-10-19, SMD
New Designs Available In My Spoonflower Shop
Thirty of my designs are newly available for purchase. That brings my total offerings to 112 fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap offerings. I am happy with how they all printed. Pardon the wrinkles, I still need to wash the fabric.
