artistic endeavors: turquoise parentheses

June 9, Rachel went crazy with the camera.

I was reading Indivisible, and I was painting that day.

But gosh do I love that sundress.

Today's been gorgeous and we had Mom's Bible study today and there's 2 little guys under 8 months old, and I don't have many words.

Heh heh.

So here's some art. Because that's what I shove at you when I don't have much to say.

Well, sometimes that's how it works. Sometimes. ;)

Jen suggested using an Amy Carmichael quote on a canvas...

Oh my goodness. Look what else I found in the June 9 folder.... 

Oh dear.

Didn't mean to torture anyone.

As usual...

:)

Tonight's a late night of softball, 9pm, and Heather's not here to encourage us to cheer. Too bad, huh? 

Also, Anna and I watched Leap Year. Wonderfee movie:) 

I can't resist a happy sigh. Truly. Ireland. Real good Irish accents. Amy Adams. That guy...Matthew Goode. With that accent. Don't know what else he's in or if it's good, but gosh was he good in this. :)
And the outfits she wears? (not talking about the one in the picture necessarily) Adorable.

I love that part. Right when it starts to hail, and they enter that b&b style place with the sweet older couple where "right's right no matter if it's rainin' or not!"

Alright. I shall leave you now.

I need to take a walk to the library since a few books came in for me... 

Lyd really needs to stop watching Up. I'm just saying...

And just so ya know, today looks like this:

And I need to replicate that room someday. Really. (huge sigh of inspiration)

artistic endeavors: yellow parentheses

4:09pm

Today has been normal Monday-morning havoc of cleaning, organizing, and picking up.

Then I settled down with the pot brewing, and got the painting stuff set out on the table.

It's been more than a week, and that feels weird:)

It's so nice to paint. 

It's fluctuated from blue sky to overcast to sunny back to overcast today.

Makes for interesting influence on the paint colors.

I already did one . . . I might as well post it, since I'm talking about it:)

Ugh, today Anna made this awesome little invention: basil, tomatoes, etc., couscous. It was amazing. Tasted wonderful. Mmmmm:)

I've been loving white backgrounds lately.

Absolute contrast. ;)

Ah! I'm excited. :)

So. Excited.

Leap Year is in at the library! We didn't get to see it in theatres, and Abbie and a few others said it was quite cute:) I'm looking forward to that one. Plus, Ireland? --Ahem. How can you go wrong???

I love that. 

Did I just take the words out of your mouth?

I just love the concept and reality of it.

Hmm.

I've been looking in Quote Garden for excellent quotes to paint.

It's been quite fruitful.

And also lately, I've noticed I've let myself just drift.

I mean, I read a few verses in Luke or something the other night, but really? I've stuck my toe in the lake of purposelessness that I've waded into in the past. It's not where I'm meant to be. Sorry I pushed into the metaphors there, but I'm kind of into symbolism a lot.

Smile:)

Anna's reading the Bible Quest thing that Jen and others are, and she's just getting to Exodus . . . with the law parts of the Old Testament. Heh heh. 

The outward was so important. After Jesus came and sacrificed Himself, it became more about the inside, not so much remembering to wash our hands how many times a day and killing a bull for every time we sinned, but more about knowing He was doing it in us and we are redeemed and following Him...

That either makes sense or it doesn't.

Oh, and all the sacrifices? Yeah......

Anyhow. I've been uploading the trip-up-north pictures of FB, but soon enough I'll do a run-down on our lovely June family vacation for y'all. :)

Lyd and Danny are watching the movie Up. Oh golly. I think I've explained some of my thoughts and feelings on that. It's sweet. But kinda bittersweet, considering the beginning... (sniff, sniff)

So. I'm starting a painting with two little ones kind of attached...in a way. You'll see when I post it. I'm actually not too sure what exactly I'm going to paint on it/them, but then...being an artist of any sort includes some mystery, ya know? ;)

Tonight, hopefully, we're going to Panera Bread with Grandma and Grandpa T and great-Uncle Eugene to celebrate Dad and Mom's birthdays. Same day, different year. Last week:)

Nope, no one gets old. Ever. (snort) But gosh don't you learn a lot as time passes. And hopefully we can all pass down some smarts to the younger ones as we live through the years.

artistic endeavors: purple parentheses

I shall start this post with coffee.

I did these canvases (it's like a mini puzzle) on....Thursday, June 10? Okay. So. 

I really can't see that this picture needs anything else, really...I mean, it has h20, coffee, a canvas...paint...um. That sounds pretty sweet to me.

I like the purple. I'm not sure anyone noticed, but I'm big into contrast:)

Obviously you can see, I decided on the quote later on in the creation.
It's nice that way.
Quite convenient.
Hint-hint. :)

I may or may not have said "awesome possum" when I finished this.
Rachel looked at me as if I had just stated I wanted to siphon Middle East oil with a straw.
Um. Crazy.
But I have to say, I was quite pleased with how the hand-writing look turned out. :)
How about you?

Well, on this day, I was in the back yard when the boys were driving this beast:

Today I was trying to catch up on the David study (once again--oh, and key word: trying) ....and ran into a day that was 6 blinkin' pages long. Usually they're maybe somewhere from 2-4 pages. But 6? And with Lyd bouncing in and out of the living room entertaining Anna and I with distracting cuteness and hilarity? Gosh. :) You don't want to know how long it took me.
Alright, I'll tell you.
2 hours.
Shameful, I know. But I couldn't just yell for Lyd to exit the room. She eventually left for grocery shopping with Mom. And Lyd truly was hilarious. Truly.
It's weird, not having painted for more than a week. Really weird.
Methinks another Parentheses is coming up soon... :)
Have a lovely Sunday night and early Monday!
Oh, and we randomly found out that we're part Dutch.
We knew that we were part Norwegian and German and a tiny bit of French (stress the very tiny) but now we find that Grammy's late hubby's late dad was part or mostly Dutch. How cool is that? I mean..it's always interesting to find out things like this.
How about you?
Who waves mosquitoes away? Don't normal people slap them wherever they might be--in the air or on a person? Hmm. I'm weird. I waved one away. :)

hello! gosh it's been a while!

Okay, so at 10:54pm I'm still catching up with everyone's blogs....
There's nothing like eating pretzels and cheddar cheese sliced off a block while you read:)

The first half (of our vacation) looked kinda like this most of the time: ^^
In a future post I shall recap the trip that we left for on Sunday after church, but gosh am I tired. 

 [Anna took this one when Mom, her and I were in town on a wee girl-time trip:)]

Honestly, I quite missed this place a little, but I wrote a ton with paper and pen. Which is always really good.

So that's all I'm saying right now.

G'night! 

Hope you're all doing good:)

Didja miss me? Couldn't help asking. :)

I want to love what You love
I want to see what You see
I want a heart that burns like a fire in me
I want Your light in my life
I want my heart renewed
Here I am forever with You
[Decyfer Down; Forever with You]

artistic endeavors: keep calm, now...

Mmmm. That was Friday, June 11.

Just thought I'd share that;) I'm pretty sure that was dark chocolate Ghirardelli's or something. ;)
Hmmm. Wow. Already, today has been something else.
As in...cleaning and organizing a kitchen in desperate need while Anna made an amazing Ratatouille meatball thing in 1 (or 2?) big pans . . . for the trip we take off for on Sunday. After church. (groan) At least I can read. At least the van has A/C. At least we won't have Danny with us, so I won't have to sit in the back with the 3 younger siblings.
Oh. My. Dear.
That happened just a couple weeks ago (on the way to see Grace) and I needed that coffee when we got to our destination. I had observed, tried not to whop anyone's heads off, and tried to focus on the book I was reading. (Uh. Yeah. I read in the back seat with havoc and car-spotting games going on to my left...hard feat, let me tell ya!)
So.
The trip.
We'll be going up north...a few hours...stop, camp for one night...go even farther up north, stay for a couple nights with one of Grammy's nieces who's just a little younger than her...then go down south a couple hours and stop at the church conference where we'll be subject to a couple days of sports, heat, long gravel roads, and wonderfully icy meeting rooms.
Subject to sports, in this case, means Anna and I walking by our brothers --and surely Rach and Lyd this year, as they've grown so much-- playing Ultimate Frisbee or something with a bunch of the young people.
Sigh.
(Don't yell at me, Heather, there are different types of people and I'm not a sports person! And yes, I'll miss you guys too;)
So.
Onto some paint.
Shall we?

Okay, just wanted to show you guys how/where I'm hanging the Miracles one. Note: C.S. Lewis quote.

Mmmmmm:) That, my dears, was $1 and odd change. Random, I know. I don't normally buy chocolate...ahem...but since I was shopping at the grocery store with Dad and Lyd and saw it, sheesh, why not. ;)
And Erynn Mangum, one of my newest favorite authors now...well, her writing kept me up kinda late last night. Kind of, as in...I happen to know a thunderstorm passed over our town with some rain from about 2am-3am. Don't ask me how I know such a thing. ;)

This is the thing I came to post.
Methinks I've been saying that a few posts, now...

I kinda like it:) Tis a good reminder, aye?
Hmm. This is what goes on in my backyard, how 'bout yours?

Yep. That's Caleb, showing a few young neighbor boys how to help out. (snort)
Hey. Someone's gotta clean Gram's commode. Might as well be a boy, since they've got power tools such as this pressure-washer, right? ;)
Yesterday Anna went to the garden (which I have yet to post pictures of, but I promise, they're already taken and waiting for, say, maybe next week:) and came in to make this...

Yes. Homemade pesto on a pita and mozzarella melted on top.
This is my favorite part of summer: eating fresh stuff from our garden.

Pointing to Cubby out there, having fun using water.

A bye? A bye?
His cute way of asking for "a bite." :) Yep, aren't we lucky? He eats healthy stuff, too. Hehe.

Ahem. Don't judge.
Or be jealous.
Yesterday was a life-changing afternoon. Ben, Rach and I got through it. Quite a time of siblings bonding. Ahem. We're totally the unofficial CNA versions of vets...if you know us, you know what I mean. Care giving is way different than you thought it was.
Ha, especially for Gram.
(wink-wink, Donna:)
So yeah. Yesterday was pretty special. Add onto that, my laptop's wifi proxy settings somehow got whacked, so I had to take a trip next door and have Ken click away for a moment. Simple solution, praise God. Thank You for neighbor geeks. :D

Oh. Just thought I should mention that I just drank this.
Um.
After the morning of kitchen stress, with the only thing preventing it from being a black-coffee day being that the lovely new coffeemaker makes my coffee nice and hot unlike my old one, and I didn't want to burn my tongue... I should probably tell you that Heather and I have this saying we use to describe how our day is going.

Let me explain.
If we're putting milk in our coffee, it's a good day.
If we're drinking it black, we need the bold, strong everything of coffee with nothing mixed in to tame it:)
Well. There ya go. Heh heh.
So I used a bit of my coffee saved in the 16oz thermos, dribbled some milk in, and gave it a good little mountain of whipped cream. Oh. Just wait. Hold on a sec...

Yes. One more shot before the thing that tops it...

Sigh.
Yeah, that's Ovaltine.
And yeah, that's evidence behind the mug I have indeed been cleaning the kitchen.
And yes, I did get punished for putting this stuff on top.
How?
Well . . .

It hurt.
I mean, there's nothing like breathing out through your nose and simultaneously blowing Ovaltine into your right eye.
I'm just saying.
At least I got a coffee topped with whipped cream and Ovaltine to comfort me, since no one saw that.
I'm off to keep that kitchen clean. Mmmm, it gives me a good feeling when we eat something healthy for lunch --like lentil stew, which I made for dinner last night. ;) Nope, none of you are alone, if indeed anyone else ever makes enough for leftovers. Heh heh.

Oh, and just to be really coming out of left field (haha), here's some of the things I was telling Heather about the series I've been reading...

Mmmm, guess what? I stayed up till 3:30! (did I mention that I brag once in a while? but only if coffee's in me;) I didn't even finish the book. But gosh, Erynn Mangum has quickly become one of my favorite authors!!! Oh yeah. :) So...woke up around 9:30? Last night at 12am, I was reading, and went down to premeasure (and grind my coffee beans in the basement, LOL!) my coffee so all I'd have to do is push the switch. ;) Methinks I'm hooked on that idea!
Thank God this is the last book in the series . . . No more after-12a.m.'s after this...Well, for a while, anyhow.
The people in the book are just so REAL. Normally, you always relate to something or other with a character, but most times that person is either nearly perfect in every other way, and/or gets their life handed to them on a bronze plate, and/or is way too annoyed with their family. I mean, healthy annoyance is true, okay? But really. Some people just ramp it up too much.
Sigh.
So....I love the girl's wit. Ohmigosh, I do. I hope she's rubbing off on me as I read! For real. (sigh) It's great. Oh, and they don't say perfect things all the time! Sheesh, Erynn Mangum has written one of the best women's fiction in a loooong while. Such real and witty conversations! Oh and I love her Emma-like matchmaking, I want to match-make! Gosh. :)

Honey, she's more than entertaining. She's witty. She's...real. She's obsessed with coffee and chocolate. Even more so than yours truly is! lol.
Oh, and she makes you think. Ya know, that's always nice. And God is sovereign. That's what I loved about the first two books---that was talked about:)

Well. That's a nice long post to tide you over for a while...not saying I'm not posting tomorrow, but I have laundry to do and clothes to pack tomorrow. I always do that stuff the day before takeoff. Hehe.

See ya tomorrow!

artistic endeavors: whimsical

Here's a whimsy one if I ever saw it. :)

Ahem. 

Sorry. Yeah, this is pretty whimsy, isn't it? Quiet. Lovely is more the word for it. ;)

Just had a thought: I'll get a print of one of these someday. And frame it in a nice modern-like frame...and hang it on my wall. It'll make me either hungry, sick, or nostalgic every time I walk past it. 

Mmmm. See, this is a small town I live in. A nice older lady we've known since probably before I was born gave us some cookies today. Randomly. :) White-chocolate something. There may have been butterscotch in it, too. Holy cow, those were good cookies. I only had about three. With black coffee. 

See what I mean? 

Totally getting a print of this.

Oh, I didn't mention this --she also gave us like 3 mugs of this kind. And three plain beautiful white ones, the same design. Some of the cutest china I've ever seen:)

Now onto the painting. I did it Saturday, June 5.

Okay. Here's the thing I came to post, and you came to see.

I think.

:)

Methinks I remember it was sprinkling outside. You can tell by the overcast look on the canvas.

Well, I can.

Cute wittle bee, yes you are. :)

Well. That's all for the paint-creativeness today. I've got a few new ones, so don't worry. 

But I have to share this.

This link to Whatever. Now, that one's her actual typepad.

But this is the one I'm really talking about.

Don't be thinking you know all about it, heard the sob story, etcetera. This is so real.

Just scroll through it...do it for me. She's not boring on the narration, neither is she spilling details paragraph-after-paragraph. It's a sentence or two here and there. Doesn't take long at all.

This is my favorite post of her trip to Africa. Just scrolling down through, I couldn't help it. My eyes filled and started spilling, love and pain and wonder all at once, and after a moment, I had a logical thought and got angry. Am I pmsing? What the hey. Anyways, it might just make you emotional any day of the week.

And this here quote's quite true, you know...

God offers to every mind
its choice between truth and repose.
Take which you please –
you can never have both.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Knowing truth makes you move. Makes you change. Makes you love.
You know it.

wordless wednesday. almost.

Monday: walk to the library with Rach and Lyd...

Reading Erynn Mangum's first series, involving a lot of coffee, chocolate, Bible studies, friends, photography, Jane Austen obsession, and match-making...(sounds like familiar interests;) I just finished this one last night, and started the next one.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course
of this world, But God, being rich in mercy, because of
the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses,
he made us alive together with Christ—
by grace you have been saved...
[Ephesians 2:1, 4-5] 

 

Oh, yes. Just a few more words: future and past reading.

That's the one with words, so feel free to click and see everything bigger. :) I just used PIcasa 3 for the past 20 minutes, you better appreciate the work. ;) hehe

Or here's the normal version, and then you can see the picture of PJ and I in January...to the left, in the shadows. :)

Well now. I've got music to practice for this Sunday, Father's Day!..callouses to develop once again...coffee to drink...for those of you who care, I made it to 11:30am before I took my thermos of coffee-brewed-yesterday-and-saved. ;) See ya tomorrow!

artistic endeavors: for sarah

It's a-raining today.

It's 70 degrees and no wind.
We have friends coming over in a few hours--Heather, Steph, Ryan (her younger bro, Caleb's age) and who knows who else:) One thing different from other times is that we're having the food critics make dinner. It's going to be breakfast food, I hear. Because they just rock at making breakfast food.
Not lasagna.
Not spaghetti.
Not even mac 'n' cheese, peoples!
Caleb's making pancakes. I hear Ryan's making coffee cake for dessert.
Now, that has me cracking up --I have yet to meet a male who makes coffee cake. Well, except for well-known cooks/chefs. But normal men and boys? Haven't seen one yet.
Tonight's going to special, indeed!
There's supposed to be a softball game tonight, like every Tuesday night.
And it's raining. Wait. It stopped to a drizzle! There is hope yet! If it's too wet, it'll be canceled, and we'll stay home, Anna and Heather will scrapbook while we eat scones and drink coffee and talk and laugh. And discuss the Bible study we're in the middle of.

Now, the eve of the day I painted this one, Anna made cinnamon rolls.
Not just any cinnamon rolls, though. Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. (and gosh is it a pain to type cinnamon rolls three times in a row! gah!) 

Oh goodness. I liked the ones without the glaze/frosting...and I had two.

Salivating yet? Had to get the temptation pictures out of the way. ;) Here's the recipe. For those of you weak in self control. ;) Or in need of gaining a few pounds, like yours truly.
What I want to know is, how does she take such wonderful step-by-step pictures if she makes it...unless she always has that wonderful friend over when she makes and shoots a recipe for the site. Who knows.

Okay, so I painted this May 25. Wow. I had to hold out for a while because Sarah reads my blog when she can...so I wanted it to be a surprise, ya see;)
Inbetween all this--I have to mention Christina at Consider the Coffee is having a giveaway! I love the piece she's putting up for it. :) I've never had a heart locket necklave before, and I've always found them so pretty, elegant, and sentimental. Slightly Anne of Green Gables. Hehe. Wait. That's a broach, not a locket, isn't it?

Nevermind. :)

Oh, and here's her Etsy shop, if you want to check out her lovely stuff:)

Now, just to be satisfactorily random, I really like this.
I think it's awesome when a man cooks. Loves his family. And loves God.

I mean, take a look at this herb roasted whole chicken! Talent, I say! Talent!!

Oh my dear.
I need one. I mean it.
I mean...
Nevermind.

Here's his original site. I haven't read it for awhile, but gosh did I get a lot out of his Matrix post.

So....methinks it looks pretty decent, aye? ;)

This is my 163rd post.
I have decided that something special needs to happen when I hit 200.
I mean, 100 already passed, so I'll take the next bus, 'kay? :]

Ha! I've been exploring Ree's site (Pioneer Woman Cooks) and found this.
Read it. Think. Laugh if you must, or if you identify. ;)

And ya know what? Sometimes we just have to hit thing in the middle and roll with 'em.

;)

Because, in the much-needed chapter of the aforementioned study (see way-way-way above) I worked on last night, I was learning about who God is versus/related to what He does. And why. Hmmmm. So many why's in life. And then there's the word trust. Trust in who He is. Who He's shown himself to be.

By the way: it's 2:48pm, the game is at 6 tonight, and there is no way the field is going to be dry enough to play.

Scrapbooking torture, lovely scones and coffee, here Steph and I come. We'll watch Anna and Heather draw their creativeness out with that wonderful craft. ;)