This 'N That...

Hey people - y'all still with me?  Sure hope so!

Not really much going on around here. It was in the 70's here yesterday in my part of Texas, close to 80 in some parts south last week.  Our daffodils are out and the trees are beginning to get those little fuzzy things on them where they'll bud out.  But before we think it's spring --- caution!  We will probably get a couple of cold/freezing cold spells before winter has moved on.  I'm telling my fruit trees to please not bud right now. Last year's late freeze got my plum blossoms - but not the peaches.

We had a 150+ year old oak tree in our back yard behind the house.  I say HAD.  It's dead now.  I hate it like the dickens as it shaded our deck and most of the back yard.  About 4 years ago, we had a drought here with 100+ temps and no rain for months during the summer.  It took until just about now, but it's been slowly dying.  I think it was weakened, and it's got some kind of disease now.  We've had limbs cut out of it several times, but it's about to bite the dust.  It borders my garden and we try to walk around its spread mostly.  We can see some dead limbs hanging in it and it's just downright dangerous now.  The tree service is coming tomorrow to cut it down.  I'm looking forward to seeing how they're going to do it!  It's huge!

It's so sad - we had lots of trees die in the woods on our place and we've taken to not walking the trail or riding our Mule through there either.  The dead ones are falling across the path and just waiting for a strong wind to knock more huge branches and tops onto our heads. My guys need to get in there with chain saws and take care of some trimming and burning...

I've been painting some when I'm not keeping my little grand baby.  I don't have time when she's here and I'm not pulling out the turpentine and paint thinners for her to breathe.  When it's just me, I open the windows by the spot where I paint and turn on a fan.  If it gets chilly I just add a sweatshirt or light jacket and keep painting.

Here's my latest....

This painting is from Turner Falls, Oklahoma.  Went on a painting trip a few years ago with some fellow artists - as you can see, this is not a painting of the falls, but of the river that leads to the falls. We went at just the right time to see the autumn colors. It was beautiful and I have plans to do more paintings from that trip!

Baby Bella-boo is growing and changing every day! She is so precious!  I love being a Mimi, maybe even more than being a mommy!  The kids bring her and let Tony and I enjoy her for a day or so here and there - AND it lets them get out and go on a date! Win-win for everybody!

Yep, you can see that our little grand-daughter hasn't a stitch of hair.  My kids didn't either.  I rather like little onion-headed babies myself!  She's got a purdy head, too, so it just doesn't matter!  Plus- it's fun to kiss and rub her head - funny how baby heads have wrinkles in the skin.... (giggle-giggle) gobs of  baby hair is highly over-rated if you ask me - it usually falls out anyway.  And then you have to stick it down with spit if you get a baby with shocks of stick-up, little gorilla-lookin' hair.  But those are cute, too!

OK, that's all I got today, guys. Gotta rustle up somethin' for my Hongry Man for supper! Bye!

It's OFFICIAL!!!

GARDEN  2013  HAS  BEGUN!!!

It's that time of year!  Still winter, but spring is around the distant corner and it's time here in E Texas to put the onions in the ground!  Ever heard of "Noonday Onions" and the "Noonday Onion Festival"?   Google it if you're interested. You can even order an official Noonday Onion Cookbook from Amazon and AbeBooks.  I learned that the Noonday farmers around our parts plant their baby onions between Thanksgiving and Christmas for softball-sized big-uns - here's ya a link...

http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/industry/noonday.html

http://tastingspoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/noondayonions_thumb.jpg

http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TP&Date=20090504&Category=BUSINESS01&ArtNo=905040306&Ref=AR&MaxH=300&MaxW=330

Where we lived prior to the farm was about 10 miles from  Noonday, which is within the 10 mile radius of official Noonday Onion growing.  I suppose we're too far away now to be official Noonday onion farmers, but I'm still raising Noondays.

Anyway...  here's one of my buckets of starts.

They are about 6" - 8" tall right now.  Sometimes I've gotten them around 3" - 4" tall, but these babies have already got a good start on 'em.  I will set out about 250-300. Dad's raising them, too. We love lots of green ones so they won't all make it to maturity.  They were scheduled to go in the ground this past weekend, but it rained and was nasty outside, so I've put it off til  HOPEFULLY this weekend.  I feel like I'm late to the party on getting MY onions planted!  I'd like to get some cool weather greens out, too.  We did break ground on the garden, but still have some tilling to do - that's the plan anyhow.  Yesterday and today the temps are around 75-76. (can you believe it?)  I turned on the A/C to clear the stuffiness.  It's about 98% humidity, too.  Good ole sinus headache weather... And it swells up the old wood doors in this little farmhouse and they don't wanna shut OR open.

Shout out to Kathy B. at Cedar Pond----  it's gopher season!!!  Well, it is on Sand Flat Farm all year long, but it seems that the gophers (bless their lil ole hearts) are being very prolific here lately and it's time for me to get out there and get to trapping!  Tony has kind of designated that as MY job.  He can do it, but I guess I do it better. (Why did I do that???  hmmmm...)

The chickens are pickin' up on their laying, too!  The hideous molt is over and the days are slowly but surely getting a teeny bit longer - which makes them lay more.  I did not light their coop through the winter - just gave them a rest.  We got 6 eggs yesterday from 10 hens!  They're all laying a bit EXCEPT the Ameracaunas.  Altho they are pretty and I love the green eggs, when I go to replace hens, next time I'm hanging with the Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks.  My RIR has laid all winter long, thru the molt, AND her eggs are HUGE jumbo sized.  She's scraggly looking still, but she's the best layer I've got. I don't know if all RIR's are like that or if she's just a great layer. (I don't know - maybe I'll keep an Ameracauna - just GOT to have some green in the mix...)

Tony asked me the other day if I still liked my chickens.  I gave him a resounding YES.  They are not pets (only one of them has an official name) but I have really enjoyed them, enjoyed taking care of them and learning all about raising chickens, handling eggs and all that stuff.  I haven't asked him, not one time, to do anything for the chickens. It's been totally MY responsibility and I've been glad to do it.  Don't even mind cleaning out the coop!  I keep it as clean as possible, doing a light clean-up every other day or so and once a week a good cleaning.  When the weather warms up a bit, I'll empty everything out and wash it all down and start all over again.

Well, it's supposed to rain later today, possible storms coming this way, so...   Luckily I'm home today, I'm cutting back on work again from time to time. I'm trying to get some painting done, and am working on a couple of paintings for my husband's office.  Fossils. (He's a geologist)  Yep, that's right - fossils.  Pictures to follow in another post.

Hang on to them skirts today girls- it's a windy one!

If interested, hop over to my art blog - a few new paintings for you!

Merry Christmas!

Just taking a minute to check on all my wonderful blogfriends and tell you Merry Christmas!  Things have been hectic this past weekend with two of my kids coming in and us all squeezing into our tiny farmhouse, including 3 dogs - Bug under the Christmas tree, Gypsy the farm dog, and...

TANK (or the Tankster as we are wont to call him) or the Big Galoot or Doofus or ... or ... Tank is my daughter's dog - he keeps her company in college and they have all kinds of fun together. I was lucky to get a picture of him without two strings of drool hanging from the corners of his mouth!  Gotta love Labs!

Anyway, it's a tight squeeze. I've given up on trying to keep any semblance of order in our house until the melee of Christmasing is over with.  I've decided NOT to stress over it, just go with it, have fun with it, and clean up the mess and doghair when the holidlays are over with. (there'll be enough doghair to stuff a small pillow...)  To top it off, I was in the midst of preparing supper yesterday evening and my mom and dad were coming over, and OUR WATER WENT OFF.  Oh JOY TO THE WORLD!  The wonderful things that happen in the country!!!  So we just loaded up all the food and went to Mom's house!  I threw everything into a laundry basket and off we went!  It's back on now...Good - we can flush.

The guys in my family are doing the "guy thing" of chopping down dead trees, of which we have many after the drought we've had in the last couple of years.  It's dangerous to walk in the woods when there's any wind.  We've had several trees fall, and branches are falling daily. Luckily the weather's been nice the last few days - expecting a few storms tonight and cooler temps the rest of the week...

Adam runs the chain saw, Dad does the scooping and putting wood on the burn pile, and Tony does most of the grunt work.  My daddy LOVES to get on the tractor, so Tony is so sweet and lets him do that.

In other news, my Kiwi kids, back a few months from New Zealand, decided  that their next big adventure was to move to Denver.  They found a 3-week house-sitting job in a nice lodge home in the mountains overlooking Denver, went up and found jobs and moved up there over the Thanksgiving holiday.  They both love skiing, snow and their latest activity as of yesterday --- dogsledding!  These two  kids are SO adventurous - they were made for each other!  Dogsledding pictures to come soon!

THIS is what I've been working on for the last couple of months.  A sawmill blade 30" across for a friend at church.  His teenage son asked me to paint a train engine from Union Pacific at the Mineola TX depot on this blade for his dad.  His dad was raised in Mineola and has worked for UP for 30 years.  It was a big job because of the surface of the blade and one I do not care to repeat EVER.  But I was pleased with how it turned out and more importantly - THE SON was pleased.  Glad that's over with!

Well, my friends, I pray that you all have a Merry Christmas with your families, friends and loved ones and that the Lord may bless you richly with wonderful new memories now and in the coming year!  May the beauty and awe of this most holiest of nights scatter your stress and mess and draw you unto Him and His unfailing patience and love. 

Sending warmest wishes from Sand Flat Farm!

New Artwork!

New paintings over at my art blog - if you're interested!  Come see!

http://southlight-myartblog.blogspot.com/

24x30  "Dancing Poppies"

I Guess I'm Done... This Is The End...

Scared ya, didn't I?

I'm just talking about my garden  :)   It's over and done with for the summer!  I'm always sad and always GLAD!  So much fun, but so much work.  This was a great garden year for us.  Alas, my volunteer pumpkins did not make it.  Well, they matured and I had some fine specimens, but just too early for fall decorating... they started rotting and then got attacked by squash bugs.  Yuck.. oh well...

Tony's tractor made small work of the remains of the garden.  Still needs a little care, but all the vines and everything have been piled up to burn after a good rain. Wonder when that'll be?  I thought for SURE we'd get in on the tail-end of that storm that went through far northeast Texas yesterday, but it dried up before it got here.

The last of my fresh tomatoes... Boy howdy, I hated to pull up those tomato vines.  But it was time.  Yes, there were still a very few small 'maters on them, but the heat is in the 100's again, and it was just a matter of time.  It's been hot and they were beginning to get spots on them that would rot before they got good and ripe.  So these were the last of the lucky ones... Maybe a big salad with chunks of tomatoes in it for supper. Maybe hamburgers with a couple of big slices.  Maybe I'll just stand over the sink and sprinkle a little salt on 'em and eat 'em and let the juice run down my arm and savor every last summer bite!

My freezer is full to overflowing, the top, the bottom, the door, AND my fridge freezer - not to mention all the canned goods from this year's harvest.  The good Lord has really blessed us here on this little piece of land this year!  Just look at the hay up there in the top picture!  It's been lush and green and abundant, too!

New Topic ---  I can't walk outside or open the back door unless THIS happens...

Of all the cluckin' and fussin' and pushin' and shovin' - you just wouldn't believe.  I'd like to think they love me for me, but NOOOO.  They only love me for what treats I bring!  Or they wanna get out and roam and look for bugs.  They fall all over themselves at the door to the pen.  When I open it, they jump and try to see what I'm bringing.  Lately (and you may have seen it in the freezer) I've been giving them watermelon - FROZEN watermelon in the hot afternoons.  They love it - it's cold, it gives them something to do, and I'm hoping it helps keep them cool.  They also love when I spray water into a corner and make some puddles.  They get in that mud and pick around and I guess it cools them off, too.

Well, my dear ones - gotta run - one last thing...  here's what's on my easel... just a sneak peak - I'll be posting over at my art blog, South Light, in a short.  Have a great weekend! 

Oh yeah - and keep yer dress down...

I LAID AN EGG!

Well, I feel like I did!  Just Look!!!

A DOUBLE-YOLKER!!!

My Rhode Island Red hen laid this egg and believe me - it was JUMBO in size.  I've worked so hard at taking care of the chickens and making sure they get lots of scraps and greens and ranging about in the yard - And I guess it's paid off!  They haven't been laying that long!  It was a huge egg, and I saved it and fixed it for myself this morning.  I figured, I've done all the hard work (except laying the egg :) so I get to eat it!

Been working on a few little pieces of artwork.  These were some quick little paintings I did today.  I'm trying to do some to sell if I can.  Hayley's having a sale on her re-furbished vintage/western style furniture and she wanted me to do some things for her sale.  Only problem is - she wants to keep whatever I paint!  That defeats the purpose - I'll do her some after her sale is over...

I didn't take pictures of the process - they were moving rather quickly and I just went ahead and hurried them done.  See whatcha thank.... the first is a 12x12, gallery-wrapped 1" sides painted, stapled in the back...

Next up - "Longhorn"  16x20, 1" gallery-wrapped sides painted, stapled in the back...

Trying to get a little funky with the colors here - trying my best to loosen up - I paint SO TIGHT!!!

Well, That's about all for tonight.  Going to a birthday lunch tomorrow and then I'll come home and try to get some more painting done.

Have a good 'un!

Kickstart the Day!

Just a little Howdy! and a good morning to you wonderful friends out there in Bloglandia!  It's a beautiful day here in Texas and I'm going to be painting today!  Lots of light here this morning that I cannot waste!  Check out my South Light painting blog later on this evening and I'll update what I've been working on.  Last week, the weather was dark, rainy and gloomy on my days off from work, so I didn't get to work on it as much as I'd like.  I hope to get alot accomplished today and tomorrow.

ATTN:  SOUTH LIGHT ART BLOG has been updated... if you're interested...

On that, I'm leaving you with a little sunshine I snapped out my front door to brighten your corner of the world - specially if yours is gloomy this morning!  Have a wonderful day!  I'll get some pictures of my painting progress up later on IF you're interested!  Hugs to you all - you just don't know HOW MUCH y'all mean to me!

"Snapshots of Jesus" - John 8

On Sunday morning this fall, our preacher at our church is doing a series of lessons on the Life of Jesus and he's entitled it "Snapshots of Jesus".  He decided that he wanted a visual aid OR an illustration from one of the Bible stories about our Savior.  I was asked to illustrate  John 8 - about the woman caught in adultery.  You'll have to do the best you can to view these pictures - my project was sitting out on the front porch where I'd been spraying a sealer on it. Kind of a glare on the photos.

I painted this scene on a 4'x8' sheet of plywood.  Had to be big so the people on the back row could see it.  It will be framed with a black frame, and all the illustrations will be hung in the auditorium during this series of lessons. We've already had some nice ones. There've been some high schoolers that have done a couple and everybody's got a different style and way of approaching their project.

I was convicted during this process of painting.  The Lord has blessed me in all areas in my life AND so richly with a talent for drawing and painting.  I have to confess that I haven't used my talent very much these last few years - for myself OR for the Lord.  Made me think about the lazy servant who went and hid his talent in the ground... No excuses - life just gets in the way, work gets in the way, family illness and death, and college kids, moving, selling one's house, etc.  It All gets in the way.  But those are excuses I know.  I didn't want to do this project at first either, and I griped and complained to my husband when I was asked to do it.  WHEN would I find the time???  I prayed about this, and I knew in my heart that I  needed to do it - not for me, but for God.  So I said YES.  How can one say  NO to God when asked to use one's talents for Him especially when He's done SO much for me?

I asked God to change my heart and help me get through this illustration and do a good job for Him.  It had been so long since I've done a project of this size.  But you know what happened?

The Lord must've helped me in this process because it went off without a hitch.  I had to use acrylic paints - I use oils almost exclusively.  Acrylics mix differently than oils, but I was able to mix and create the colors that I wanted and was pleased with the end result. 

Oh it's not like a "painting" painting.  It's an illustration with big loud colors and not too much detail because it will be viewed across the auditorium.  It needed to be that way.  And I know that I was blessed by doing this project and that the Lord made it easy for me.  AND I GIVE HIM ALL THE GLORY AND THANKS for my talent and for the multiplied time to get this project done.  I pray that God may touch  lives through all the illustrations and that the Snapshots of Jesus may "stick" in the minds of those who view them and that we can ALL apply Jesus' lessons to our lives daily.

Remember - if you'd like to view the pics larger, just click on the photo ----

Below is probably the best photo of these three.  Can you see the Light that radiates from the Lord? 

John 8:12  "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the Light of the world.   Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life' ".   NIV

Comments are off for today. 

My Friend Tara at New Day New Seasons!

I've been friends with this gal for awhile now, and we've actually got to meet up and hang out a couple of times now with another blogger friend, Debbie at Wisdom.  Today, I need to tell you all to go meet Tara at New Day New Seasons.  She is an absolute doll and a dear bloggie friend to me!  We three girls have had the bestest times the twice that we've gotten together. Of all the laughing and joking and discussing serious subjects - you just wouldn't believe.  And eating, of course, lots of eating.  This time it was Mexican food!  I feel like I've known both of them forever and we had a blast at Papacita's and Dressin' Gaudy.

Tara is a school teacher and has a beautiful family.  She is also a Christian lady and her love for Christ shines through when you get to know her.  She is also a very talented artist - you should go by and visit her and see some of her creations!  They are amazing.  I've been quizzing Tara about her work and she's been giving me little hints.  Her sister is also talented and together they make an amazing pair!

Here's just a sneak peak at one of her creations.  Tara puts layers upon layers of mixed media into her work.

Gives it alot of depth and detail.  I know Tara's making some big plans with her artwork, but I can't tell... shhhhhhhhh... you'll just have to wait and see!  Pop over and say hi and tell her I sent you! 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Other Palaverin'...

I'm sure most of you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - GO GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS and do your self-exams!!!  Do everything you can for yourself and your beloved family and friends to stay on top of technology and ways that we can help beat this disease. 

Seen this bumper sticker?  I've been seein' it around my hometown quite a bit lately.  A little chauvinistic, but you get the message.  I happen to love it!  A serious issue to be sure, but hey, whatever gets the message across! You know men can relate to this bumper sticker alot more than one that has the word "breast" on it - they can hardly even say the word!  much less warn the female members of their families.

On a more serious note, a good friend of mine here just had a double mastectomy last Friday, October 1.  She has breast cancer in her family, and they found a very small spot on one of her breasts.  She decided to make the ultimate sacrifice of losing both breasts in order to forestall any recurrence later on (Lord willing). What a tough choice to have to make - I know she was thinking of her husband and 4 kids as she made this decision.  Please keep my friend, Wanda, in your prayers...  thank you.

Now, on to other Palaverin'.....

My son's kitty, Lucy, loves to watch TV.  She prefers FOX news and Family Guy (which I detest - it's so crass) but she does this quite often.  Isn't she pretty?  My chihuahua, Bug, is staying at my son's house while we get the house re-vamped a little.  Bug has always hated other dogs, but she loves Lucy.  They play together, they eat together, they sleep together.  It's amazing.  They run and jump and mock-fight. Of course, Lucy has sharp toenails and sometimes we hear a yelp from Bug when the action gets a little too rough.  But it hasn't stopped Bug from snuggling up with Lucy on a blanket on the couch. 

You know how on a slick coated dog, if they get a little tuft of hair sticking up from the rest - if you pull on it, it comes out and usually has a little bitty scab attached?  Well, sometimes we find those on Bug - results from these two scuffling, I'm sure.  (was that gross? was it? I wasn't trying to be - just seein' if ya'll noticed stuff like that...)

Here's a few random Autumn scenes - paintings I have done in the past. The first one is a watercolor (under glass) of an old red barn in our area.  This is actually how it looked in Autumn.  I took some pictures of it several years ago, painted it a few years later, drove by the area a few months ago, and couldn't find it at all.  Don't know if it's been torn down or things just grew up around it.  It's sad to me to see the old things just fade away never to be seen or remembered again...

Below is a terrible photo of a plein-air 8x10 piece I did whilst in the company of some of my art friends.  We went out on a 40 degree day with the wind whipping around and we had very pink cheeks and noses, gloves on which made it very hard to paint, the oil paints were not moving around very well, and my eyes and nose were watering so badly, I just gave up and let 'em run.  But I got my painting done. Another old barn with a squeeze chute.  I love old barns...and other old structures out in the country...  sorry for the picture quality...

 

I also love back lighting from the sun or other light source. See below.  Late afternoon looking not quite into the sun and the trees were just starting to get some good color.  I love painting outside.  Sometimes I bring my 8x10 studies into the studio and then do a large painting of them.  I have 4 wonderful friends that I paint with.  We are all so different in the way we paint, the way we were brought up, the ways we believe, etc.  But one thing holds us together and makes us good friends - painting is our muse.  We "understand" each other.  We respect each other and our differences, and we love each other in spite of everything else. Painting/Art - seeing it, smelling it, touching it, breathing it in, absorbing ourselves in it.  We have to do it ---   or die.

I can't wait til 2-3 more weeks.  I've been working here for the last 8 years. I'm so ready to get back outside on a more regular basis and paint with my buddies.  I've hired another lady to work part-time.  (that's why I have been MIA here lately - along with all the other stuff going on in my life right now.) We are extending our business hours from 8-5 Mon-Sat. I will work Mon-Wed. and she is working Thurs - Sat.  My art gang is chomping at the bit for us all to get out and paint together, ALL of us, again like it used to be. They've missed me - it's good to be missed.  I've done a little painting these last 8 years, but not like I was before.  I'm hitting the road again, the hiways and byways, the parks, the countryside, wherever my muse stirs my soul.  I hope to start a painting blog when I get rolling again.  Wish me luck!

Enjoy this short Autumn season! and as always - Keep your dress down!

Sand Flat Farm Artist Studio

Okay my peeps - my husband has been trying to get me to do this for quite some time, so I'm gonna take a stab at it.

A few years ago, I was in an online art gallery, and I still have giclee prints from several of my original oil paintings.  I have been trying to get some good quality photos of them so I could put the giclees in an Etsy shop.  I'm attempting to do this so bear with  me. It's taken me 2 hrs tonight to get one photo on there.  I'm technologically challenged. I needed my daughter or son here to help me, but they were unavailable so I winged it. (or wunged it - whatever)

I will be adding more giclees to my shop as time allows as well as trying to do some new original smaller items.   I do all my painting in oils and occasionally acrylics.  Sometimes I'll throw in a watercolor with some pen and ink.   Giclee is simply a fancy French word for reproductions or quality prints on canvas.  They look like originals in other words.  The online gallery closed down and I've been thinking of what else I could do with them, so Tony volunteered me for Etsy.  So here we go.

You can see a few of my paintings down on the bottom right of my sidebar.  Now that I've advertised that I'm doing this, I'll have to follow through with it.  Here's my link - Sand Flat Farm Artist Studio.  You all can hold me accountable. I simply HAVE to get back painting.  I NEED to do it, even if it's only for ME.  So, take a look, enjoy, no strings attached!

EDITED TO ADD:  Giclee is pronounced "Zhe-clay".  Also, I will be posting new photos on the etsy shop of my works. The one on there right now is a "make-do". Probably shouldn't have used it until I've got the good ones...

WHEN I WAS A KID...

I see blogs from time to time that post their own baby pics and so I decided to do that, too, seein' as how I'm runnin' a little low in the subject matter department today. Won't get any more new pictures of Europe from Josh until he gets home I guess, which 'll be Sunday week.

mom & dad both grew up in hometown. Mom worked at one of the banks downtown, dad worked at Penney's and then Sears. Drat! I think I left my photos of them when they were newlyweds at the farm !&&*^(@!$#^!@@. Oh well, guess I'll just show you a few of me. Mom and her friend Jimmie Sue were big shoe nuts back when, and they would go on their lunch hour to Penney's and look at shoes and to the dime store to have lunch at the fountain. Well, her and dad finally spotted each other and mom went for several weeks to spy on him and decide for sure whether she wanted to meet him. I guess she finally did after he caught her lookin' and smiled at her. A mutual friend introduced them, and they started dating and fell madly in love! They were engaged after about 6 months and married within a year. I came along a couple of years later...

Here's me at 18 mos. I have some older photos and a good little baby pic somewhere but I'll have to find it. Mom and Dad thought I was quite cute! My hair is still very curly. Mother would brush out my white blond hair and in a minute or two, it had sprung back up in little knots and ringlets. I still fight it to this day! (we're never happy with our hair are we?)

I think I mentioned once before how much I loved the Palladin show "Have Gun Will Travel". Mom and Dad bought me this little cowboy outfit which I absolutely LOVED and I rode my palomino spring horse thousands of miles watching Palladin and dreaming of becoming a cowboy when I grew up! I even had six-shooters! I never was much of a girly-girl when I was young...

Then here I am showing you a high school pic when my husband and I were only 17 and just started dating. This was at the Sadie Hawkins dance. I look back now and realize how young we were, but of course we thought we knew everything! We were highschool sweethearts from then on. I have known him since I was 16!

I don't know how this goofy Blogger is going to show these photos. It's jumpin' around on me and the photos won't stay where I put 'em!!!

Here I am at 18. This was my free spirit-hippie stage. I was a teen in the 70's - a little late for the hippie generation, but at 17-18, it all seemed so cool and romantic and I remember being said that it was all over before I was old enough to be a part. Of course, now in retrospect, I wouldn't dare be involved in all the stuff that came with being a hippie!!! I still feel like free spirit sometimes tho. It would be nice to really get into the artist/bohemian/gypsy/hippie personna and just be weird - aren't artists supposed to be that way? and wear lots of silver and turquoise and maybe have a nose-ring and a tattoo on my ankle? whadaya think dear readers??? then I could travel around and paint and sell my paintings on the sidewalk in California and Colorado for enough money to go to Europe and paint my way through Tuscany and Spain... sigh.... sounds purty swooft to me... no really, wouldn't it be nice to just escape sometime?

I think part of the free spirit thing is that at 52, I think I've finally gotten to the point that I don't care what others think of me, I care what I think of me. I'm comfortable in my own skin, no matter what it looks like, I'm comfortable doing whatever makes me happy and makes me smile, and painting my way through life and wearing what I want and gettin' into the artsy-fartsy thing might make me happy (all this according to the Lord's will of course) I never cared for big expensive houses, or expensive cars or clothes. The Lord provides me with everything I need and most things I want. He gave me a talent that I'm really wasting right now, what with work and all. I'm too tired to even think about painting when I get home from work, and laundry and housework and cooking are all screaming to be done first.

But NO! I'm trapped in this midlife, conservative lookin' body and family and lifestyle. EEEEk! I've turned into my mother, I'm exactly like her. How many of us said we were NEVER gonna be like our parents? I sure did! I couldn't wait to get out from under their wing, and then I couldn't wait to get back. Now I want to spend as much time with them as I can before they're gone. Guess that makes me a "mature" woman.

Speaking of which..... There's this real estate magazine-lette that we have around town where all the local realtors put ads for their realty in there and they always try to have some fancy-shmancy description of their homes. This goofy guy that I went to high school works for one of the realtys and several years ago, he worded his ad somewhat like this:

"This home......she has all the charm, elegance and gracefulness of a beautiful older woman..." CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY??? OF ALL THE NERVE comparing an old house to a woman! He was a PIG in high school, and by gum, he's STILL a PIG!!!!

How did I get off on that tangent? Ok, I guess I'm tired. I'm palaverin' again. I guess I need to git ya'll used to that word. Add it to your vocabulary girls - people may really think you're smart, especially you northern gals. Us sutheners generally know what that means, at least I think most of us do. Night, night- sleep tight - sweet dreams - I love you.... my mom and dad used to say that to me and my sibs every single night, with a kiss on the forehead (then say night-night), kiss on one cheek (say sleep tight), kiss on other cheek (say sweet dreams), I love you (kiss nose). I did that to my kids and still do when they'll let me! ...... sweet dreams.....