one of those days...

we've all had them.... everything seems to take 3x longer than it should, as soon as you get something done you find you did it totally wrong... the child is hungry "nothing to eat", you burn the bacon, he won't eat the eggs, you are tripping over the dogs, but you can't toss them out because the roof is leaking and the roofers are here to greet you this morning... laundry is backed up, nothing to wear.... but to much rain, so the laundry drain will back up and pour all over the floor...

so i decided to take a walk.... my favorite path through the mountain with wonderful views and start all over again... i decided to go through the fence, since fences usually are for keeping things in, aren't they?

i sit in the pasture watching the cows and looking at the clouds... a nice break from the constant rain and the leaky roof.... i notice the cows are becoming quite interested in me and two of them start meandering towards me... well being a city girl wishing to be a mountain girl i just enjoyed seeing them lopping over to me (pretending that they were not out to get me) ... then one started to lop pretty darn fast and i wondered if cows do attack.... and they do.... i can say that i can still run pretty fast, faster than an attack cow that is if i have a good lead...

you may not believe this but i certainly do.... i've always thought cows were making plans.... drive by, watch them getting together, planning planning planning.....i've always told my sons that they are meeting, planning a birthday party....but i know the truth, they are not the big pretty eyed innocents that they pretend to be.... they are planning... they are planning their takeover....

saturday music show.... wynonna

last night i went to see wynonna... hard to believe she came to a little town like ours... it was a beautiful night in the mountains, the night coolness of the air, stadium surrounded by mountains, fireflies in the air and children running and dancing around the stage. she loves the children, she said she felt that she was being entertained and not entertaining...at the end of her moving performance the skies were lit with fireworks....and then a nice walk home...

she has always amazed me and i've always loved her. her spirit, talent and openness has always been shared with all of us. she is what she seems....searching, hoping, caring. you know when somebody is special...you get chills, tingles. she sang this song last night that i wanted to share with you. i remember the first time i heard it, the song crossed over from i believe the christian music charts to contemporary music...and was being played everywhere...i remember being moved to tears.

out of the kitchen...

it all started with the very last step of bringing the rest of my studio from the kitchen down into the studio... when i started a family i was determined to work at home....for 6 years i drug my work from the studio to paint on the kitchen table.... there were game boards leaning against all the walls in various stages down into the hallway...

i took the final step.... bring the computer from the kitchen and all the things that goes with it...

it would've been very amusing for you to watch this event. sara, my assistant, who floats from the studio up into what i call my other life, helps with kids, errands, doing the dishes and then finds her way to the studio helping with things here and there... well sara and i decided it was time to pull it all together...

how many times did we put those legs on the table, we will not tell.... and what the heck were those left over pieces on the floor from the bookcase? hmmmm.... but it's done and oh so wonderful.... when the phone rings, here i am.... when i need to print something, i lean and push a button... my early morning times of blogging are relaxing in my studio instead of the hectic "upstairs".

it is amazing that one can create a cottage industry in their home....combining their love of their work along with their love of family... i am certainly blessed beyond my dreams....

it's not even monday....but...

as you know monday is my favorite day of the week... stop the groaning... i just love a monday... to me it's a week of upcoming unknowns....opportunities, fun to be had, new friends, new ideas and then the always hopes of making my "upstairs life" more organized...

after a long week of vacation i'm so thrilled to be getting down to the studio... yes it's quite a mess right now... seems to be the 'drop off' place for anybody coming through, so that will take some time getting some order on my work tables... and i wonder why their is a table on my work table... empty cups and tools that are not mine....hmmmm....

but i will feel great and ready to go when that's all in order... i just found some wonderful hanging lanterns to hang in my studio along with a huge wicker bird cage.... now where to hang that..... but after all the cleaning and decorating i will be jumping right to work from the very beginning....drawing...(even though it's not a monday)....

back from vacation...

ahhhh...gulf sands

i'm back from a very relaxing trip to my family. what fun it is to see everyone, to see my moms latest creations. how can somebody have so many beautiful quilts going on at the same time?, my dad and his beautiful garden that he has created with butterflies flying everywhere you turn and his fight against the deer eating all the beauty, my sister and her constant redecorating of her already wonderful home, my other sister and her stories of fishing, trips and nutty animals...my nephew on his way to being a painter and neice and her frantic but fun life raising a 2 year old, and then my little great neice, the 2 year old that grasps all our hearts....

what fun to see everybody and just take up where we were before, like time hasn't passed....the summer storms were amazing....as you can see from this photo...rainbows, lightening and blue skies all at the same time...

i came back rejuvinated....wanting to get right back to my studio and create....hopefully to breathe some freshness into my pieces and colors from the florida skies and beaches....the chance for me to come home and survey my own home and change things up a bit....to renew my home and garden too...

and as always, when i caught a glimpse of my first mountain top coming home, i felt safe and my breath was taken away....again....

off on vacation!

phew......

what a great feeling it is to see all the boxes ready to go to all of you....i hope you love them....and enjoy them as much as i did making them for each of you....

ahhhhh.....the pelicans

ahhhh...the sounds of the surf.... watching the pelicans, the last of the dinosaurs...

i thought i'd go ahead and post ahead today...tomorrow i will be finishing all those boards you saw drying outside, plus another rack full....

from each side of this country and many states in between boards will be shipping and flying for the next week to reach your homes...i hope you enjoy them as much as i enjoyed making the piece for each of you...

i'm off to florida for a week to spend with my family....i can't wait to see all of them...cannot wait to see the newest member of the family and my parents....my niece and nephew and sisters...beaches, and all the tourist things that you do only when company arrives...and all of moms cooking....i live to far away for my liking....

so i will check in when i return....a little more then a week....and i'll be drying boards while i'm gone...

saturday music show...(just a little early)

the scottish settled in this area....they said it reminded them of home, green and mountainous...

i call the music up here, mountain music...it is a form of bluegrass with a slant towards scottish, irish and folk.. it is an off shoot of the scottish music that was brought here. folk songs passed on from one generation to another, someone finally took notice that it might be lost for all time if not recorded on paper... dates of this music go far back...

it is difficult for me to tell the difference between scottish music and irish....and i believe that is because most of the music was carried from ireland to scotland. every year we have a huge festival where the scottish clans gather, play scottish games and music. kilts of every plaid are proudly worn by the clans...

the music is from one of my favorite bands.....clann an drumma.....i've seen them many a time and always look forward to their coming....our town made a warm welcome to these scottish musicians who afterwards said that they would be returning as often as possible... they are passionate musicians....carry their drums wherever they go and just start playing.... if it starts raining they just duck into a pub and keep playing...i thought i'd share with you something that is so common to me but might be very different for you...

patience....

as i'm laying the game boards down to dry amongst the bleeding hearts and lilies....it's a beautiful picture that reminds me of quilts... the pattern, the colors.

it's a peaceful time, the signal to an end... the day has to be perfect, sun coming and a soft breeze, the wind and humidity can ruin the finish.

it's a time where i can linger for a moment in the garden and take note of what is about to bloom, the black eyed susans and indian paint brush...where i'm becoming intrigued with the new colors that are arriving in my garden and where can i use those in my work.

the music drifts out from my studio, and i am reminded to come back in and move on to the preparation of the final stages that will begin tomorrow....

what i'm working on....

this piece was originally created in the 1800's...this will be added to my new collection in late august...it will be the second piece added to my limited edition collection.... if you love it, let me know and i will make a piece for you...

saturday... the day for some music (turn it up)

living in the appalachians, music is everywhere. banjos, harmonicas, guitars, fiddles and voices singing bluegrass, gospel and folk... it is as natural as one can imagine, woven into your ordinary day. friday night is music out on the lawn at the old jones house, or you can head out to the next town over and listen at the old drugstore. walking main street on the weekend you are bound to find a guitar player or fiddler playing on the sidewalk.

saturday is a wonderfully lazy day here... a celebration of an end of a week and time for being with your family. a day of choices... should i go to town and linger, hike in the woods, climb for a view, cook out while napping in the hammock or go sit by the river and read. there are so many choices in my paradise. so i think i will go to town and sit outside eating homemade pancakes at melanie's and linger in town to see what i can find....come home and nap, head to the studio to catch up and then down to the river with supper in a basket. i like to add some music on my blog on saturdays, something i stumbled upon or something that found me...however it happened i was moved by something new...so sit back and relax, it's just beautiful.

dog day afternoons....

it always happens.....this time of year i start thinking of snow.....i start thinking of where we could go out to eat....which restaurants have air conditioning...not inclined to cook or eat at home...the heat is unbearable....the humidity is setting in....i've never seen it this bad....

ok, well i admit is is around 72 when i do check.....but it's a very hot 72. i think of the days of half of my childhood being raised in florida....growing up on an island, dirt roads, searching for sharks teeth...the taring of the roads in later days, watching it bubble and poking the bubbles with sticks...feet hardened from walking on the hot roads....and never noticing the heat. i've noticed that with my own children, they don't get hot, you have to make them pause and water them down over and over and off they go....they don't notice the steam coming off the road after a short rain...when did that change happen in me?

i'm still thinking of snow....somehow it makes me cool down....

i wanted to take this week....

i'm locking the studio down for the week and won't be writing until next week.... and as you know this is not a blog where politics or religion are discussed....

but i wanted to take these last few days to look at the 4th from small town eyes to the eyes of war... from the simple joys of my family life that i'm blessed with to the struggles that other families are forced to endure, here in america and worldwide.... one day, there will be peace throughout the world....

a tribute to the soldiers....

boys will be boys

and i see....

girls will be girls