Some of my favorites

Often I will do a quick little watercolor because I've run across a subject that appeals to me. Or because I need something for a card.

This one is "The Hawk."

One of these day's I may frame him and put him in the vicinity of my heron,The Sentinel.  A photo of his painting is in the display in the right margin.

"Huddling Against the Chill"


My very first acrylic painting that I followed along with an art instruction video back in 2004.

"Watching Over Her"

Another acrylic that I did during that same period.  I still have this painting of a cardinal couple in my portfolio.  It has sold well in the gift shop, but when I look at it all I see are my mistakes.

"Hungry Jay"

There are so many things wrong with this early painting from a perspective point of view, but I love the bird and my flowers.  Another early acrylic that I learned much from.

"Cardinal in Spring"

A quick acrylic based on a photo I took of a flag which was hanging on our son'd front porch in Virginia.

"Lunch is Served"

Not a good photo but I still love one of my first little watercolors.  My daughter, Chele, says all my birds are mean looking.  I like to say that they are "focused."

I really do like painting birds, though, mean looking or not. My favorite painting, however, from my early days?  A fancy frog on a lily pad.

"Miss Froggy"

This one always makes me smile.














Looking forward to getting back to it this summer.

Picture of Happiness

This guy keeps us laughing.  Every day.  All day long.

Forgot to mention Beau in my previous blog about "happiness."  He brought a new dimension when he came into our home 8 years ago.  We start every morning with laughter at his little eccentricities.  Beau-Zo, the clown.

Happiness

I was thinking earlier tonight about happiness and why it is so elusive for so many.

For the greater part of my 67 years, I have been a very happy person.  There were some tough years and a few heartbreaking times, but I have been blessed with the ability to "Let Go" and "Let God -- or whatever Higher Power" handle problems over which I have no control.  I don't anger easily and when I do, I'm over it very quickly.  I'm not easily irritated.  

I love my children and grandchildren, but have never felt I needed to be involved in every facet of their lives. Trying to be there when they needed us but realizing that they are their own family units. We have always felt that, unless asked, we should keep our own counsel, trying never to offer unneeded and/or unwanted advice.  Occasionally, it is hard to keep the lip zipped, but for the most part, I think we have succeeded in that.  Keeps us happier -- and them, too. 

My best friend is my husband.  I have some good women friends and I really like women and know there are several who will be there for me if or when I need support.  But my husband is my rock.  Always has been.  We have been a "couple" for 44 years now and will celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary in August. He's funny, romantic, and incredibly thoughtful and considerate.  He's not perfect, but he's perfect for me/  A perfect person wouldn't be as lovable.  If a perfect person ever really exists, I am sure he or she could not make me laugh the way this man makes me laugh.  Every day.

He hates the idea of Facebook.  I show him stuff but am careful not to post any pictures of him because 1) he hates cameras and having his picture taken; and, 2) he is a very private person.  I respect his wishes in this, but a blog entry about happiness, for me, would be incomplete without mentioning him.  We are not responsible for anyone else's happiness -- only our own.  But we all know we can certainly make someone else miserable if we want to do it.  I believe we are both responsible for being supportive, caring, and kind partners and that it is important to always show respect for one another and to say, "I love you," often.  He's really good at that and I am, also.  

Maybe that is the key to my own happiness.  I stay busy with lots of varied interests and he supports me in that. When you're busy, you don't have time to think about things that could irritate you if you dwell on them. We are both very fortunate people and we know it.  It can all end in the space of a heartbeat.  We know that, too.  Neither of us want any regrets.  No "if only's" or "I should have's."  We try to live our lives so that when this ride together is over for one of us, the other will have only happy memories.  No regrets.  No "I should have's."  

By my own definition then, I guess happiness is living in the "now," appreciating what we have.

Winding Down

As much as I love my volunteer activities, I always look forward to this time of the year when a good number of them go on summer hiatus.  I have two more Woman's Club associated meetings and they will be over as of the first week in June.

There will be a school supply and backpack project that we do jointly with the good folks of Florida Hospital North Pinellas (school physicals) and the Citizen's Alliance for Progress (CAP) in July culminating with the event on August 1st.  Our responsibility in that endeavor is to gather school supplies and backpacks to be given to children who come to Union Academy for a school physical.  The ladies of our group prepare a grilled chicken salad dinner and serve the children and their parents.  Any leftover backpacks are left with CAP to give out as needed as the school year gets started.

Another WCTS member, Neila O'Neill, and I started a Facebook page for the Club this month.  I apparently don't have enough to do.  You all know how much I love the computer and things related to it and I am already Admin for the Friends of the Library FB page. This is not time consuming. We need to get the word out and I want "likes" from nonmembers to get the word out on our activities to the rest of the community.  I will be working on that some, also.  Oh, and I assumed responsibility for Admin of the Club email account.  I wrote a policy and procedure for the club's use of email and Facebook and will talk about it at the orientation of the new Executive Board at Dolores Wilson's house this morning. I accepted a Directorship on this board.  This year it is a nice mixture of old and new members. This orientation meeting is one of the meetings to which I referred earlier.

We will have no FOL meetings in July and August. That cuts down on the time I spend doing reports.  The bookstore activity goes on throughout the summer but I have two new volunteers to help me work the donations, sorting, pricing and shelving them so I am hoping a few hours on Fridays will be all that is required to keep it up.  I am concerned that we haven't made any plans for the Annual meetings at this point.  Venues get booked quickly around this little city.  I'll talk to Trish when she gets back from her fabulous trip out West.  Maybe we can discuss it at the June Board meeting.  We really need to get on it.

 
Hmmm.  Maybe it isn't winding down quite as much as I had anticipated.  No worries.  I'll still have plenty of time for painting and paper crafts.  That's usually my major summer activity.

I'll wind down just enough to do that and to read "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett, by book group's summer reading to discuss when we are back together again in September.  I started it yesterday.  It will be a good read.

Wishing everyone a summer filled with things they love to do.

Remember....

Remembering them all today.

This is the first picture taken of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.  Not as dramatic as the one that made the news and became the inspiration for the statue at Quantico, VA.

I never say "Happy" Memorial Day.  It is a somber day for many.

I have a new toy....

My creative interests has been changing over the past year as I learned more about paper crafting and really got into card making.  I receive a magazine called "Card Maker Magazine" and this month I noticed an ad for an electronic cutting tool. It is the Silhouette Cameo.  Once I read the ad, I researched it and then read everything I could about it and all the reviews.

I mulled it over, reread all the data available, and took the plunge on Wednesday night.  Amazon had the best price, no sales tax, and free 2 day shipping.  It came yesterday and I waited until today to set it up.

Oh. My. Gosh.  It is AMAZING!  No buyer's remorse here.  It was easy to set up and the software is user friendly and is similar to photo software I have used for years.  It can cut my own designs.  I can print on my Epson Artisan 810 on card stock and then cut out the designs by synching that to the Silhouette and feeing the printed card stock through the cutter.

And, if I would rather use a sketch pen in place of the cutting blade, it will "sketch" my design on whatever paper I feed into the Silhouette.  I haven't tried that yet, but I did order additional sketch pens that arrived at the same time.  I will play with them tomorrow.

Right now I have a glass of wine and am getting ready to watch my favorite horse, Orb, run the Preakness.

Then the Sprint All-Star and Show Down races tonight.

It must be May because....

our Plumeria trees are looking good!

Leafing out beautifully and flower bracts on practically every branch tip.

And we have a bloom -- this is the same bloom from a number of different angles.  The only thing prettier than the bloom is its wonderful scent.  

Can't do a garden update without a picture of these:

More ripe ones are inside on the kitchen counter.  

And my avocado trees are still growing in their pots...soon to be transplanted to the yard.

Someone else was watching me to see if I was going to do something for him....

 

But then he lost interest and went after another lizard.

He couldn't reach this one.

Until it made the mistake of running down the screen instead of up......

I made him spit it out....

Finished at last!

Just finished my "Cobblestone" afghan for our bedroom. It is the one with blues. browns, and grays. The one above it is the one I crocheted for my chair last winter. It is Deborah Norville's Everyday Soft Worsted Yarn in the "Toasted Marshmallow shade.

The pattern called for hundreds of puff stitches in rows across and up and down.  Which means that a missed stitch is incredibly easy to identify because one misplaced puff stitch sticks out like a sore thumb.  Believe me, I KNOW.

The fringe is made up of 201 tassels on each end.  They add a lovely dimension to this pattern and this yarn makes beautiful, luch tassels.

It is my latest creation.  I am so pleased with this yarn.  It is inexpensive, crochets like a dream, and is soft, yet substantial worsted weight yearn.  It is the "Everyday" yarn by Deborah Norville in her "Beach" color.

I have another of her yarns, "Lagoon," that I will start working with tonight on an afghan for the great room. Here is the website picture of the yarn:

I will really enjoy this one.  Another new pattern to work with and my favorite colors.  My friends can attest to this.  Half my closet is made up of aqua, teal blue and white. ;-)

Stay tuned for Monday Macro tomorrow.  Our first plumeria bloom opened this morning!

Sunken Gardens

Yesterday I was one of twenty-one members of the Shutterbug Club who visited Sunken Gardens, a botanical garden in north St. Petersburg.  I had been there many years ago but had forgotten what a truly special place it is.  Tucked away between beautiful wrought iron fencing, lies 4 acres of some of the most luscious foliage I have ever seen.  I took this photo as we were walking from the parking lot to the front entrance.  The bougainvillea is just gorgeous, don't you think?

The admission to this tropical "jungle" is only $6 for seniors over 62 (there are advantages to aging) and $8 for younger adults.  We were coming from Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties to meet at the Gardens so we had a little wait after we purchased our admission stickers.  It was an enjoyable wait as we had a chance to catch up with each other's doings or to get acquainted with new members.  I noticed a hibiscus through the front windows and went back out front look more closely.

A perfect bloom....

I started to get a more panoramic view of the garden there but the BIG BROWN TRUCK rolled up and parked, blocking the best part of the shot so I turned around and went back inside where I spotted this guy.

He didn't speak despite my efforts to assure him of what a "pretty bird" he is.  He was busily working on the fastening to his cage.  Someone had wisely moved that cage up against the wall so that if (probably when) he gets it open, it won't have an opening large enough for him to get out.

The rest of our party arrived so we all headed into the gardens.  The height of the trees is impressive and the first thing that you notice.  It was heavily overcast yesterday morning and we were all hoping that we could see the whole place before rain set in.

I couldn't count how many kinds of bromeliads I saw yesterday.  They are so beautiful and all are great complements in color to the deep greens of the foliage around them.  This one stands out at the beginning of the path into the gardens.

As I rounded a curve the bamboo forest caught my eye.  My friends walking ahead of me show you just how tall these bamboo trees are.

Sunken gardens has an amazing number of koi ponds -- large and small.  I have always loved water lilies and I enjoyed seeing them and the very large fish who make them their homes.  I didn't see the food you could buy to feed them until we returned to the building where we entered.

One of my favorite flowers -- the Mexican Petunia

Breath taking bougainvillea

I couldn't find a sign for this bloom -- if someone can identify it for me, I would appreciate the assistance.  Beautiful isn't it?

More bromeliads

Beautiful ground cover

Located at a bend in our path, this magnificent old oak made a lovely picture

Every once in awhile, I like to throw in a shot that gives you a little perspective on just how massive this tropical foliage is.  This is my friend, Sheila, and her hubby.

Taking a quarter turn in another direction, I spotted these Brugmansia.  Aren't they exotic looking?

Then I looked down

Is it any wonder I took 124 photos yesterday.  Thank goodness for digital!

The path ahead...

And the rock wall beside me....

And, as many times as I saw this flower yesterday, I still don't know what it is.  Do you?

No, I am NOT posting all 124....

But there are some I just cannot leave out...

There were some young children who were really enjoying the gardens...

Lots of little grottos with waterfalls..

And ponds with waterfalls..

And more lovely foliage...

Hang in there, we're nearing the end of our path...

Ahhh, here we are.  The elusive flamingos I could hear but not see until the path led up to the pond.  That group across the way includes more of my group.  I see Dolores taking a picture of me.

Dueling cameras.

I cropped her out of my next pic. ;-)

 It started to rain and I had no umbrella to protect my camera so it was time to go.  We had reservations for 21 at Outback Steakhouse.  So I snapped one more shot and headed for shelter.

This was the best Shutterbug trip I have been able to attend since the one on our cruise from the Crab Shack last year.  I think it was last year.  The years pass so quickly, I am never quite sure when I did something.  Thank goodness the computer dates the file.

I'll be back.  This was a lot of fun. And lunch was delicious!