It still looks like this...

Continuing with the theme of the remodel, it still looks like this...

Still bare bones at this point, but all the debris from the demo is gone and framing is in process...

Looking through from what will be the new kitchen to the front door...

Photographic evidence that actual work is being done... (just kidding, they've been busting their butts)

I even ventured down into bowels/basement of the house.  It never occurred to me the amount of work that has to be done in this area...

The old furnace was removed and you can see all the way back into the other "rooms" under the house.  It reminded me somewhat of going into a cave.  When I was a child, I was never comfortable going down into the basement.  Grandmother stored her jars down there (in a glass mountain that was quite precarious) and other than that it was only accessed when maintenance had to be done.  Quite interesting to see this area as an adult.

These openings were probably for the coal storage area.  Sister would know more than I, as I just don't remember much about the basement.

While I was looking around, TD (the contractor) said "you need to take a picture of this mess" and just shook his head.  Apparently, as the years have passed, the house (like so many others) has been the victim of jury rigging.  If fact when he was doing the demo on a room upstairs, which had been intended for use as a kitchen, he said it was just by the Grace of God that the house hadn't burned years ago.

Well, everything is being brought up to code, and I know it will be a lovely house again.

I hope you are enjoying this remodelogue.  I'll keep you posted and we'll talk soon.

Just a quick post with a few pictures...

I'm acting as go between/designer on the remodel of my sister's house here in Virginia.  There was some talk about the contractor going out to the West Coast to bring in some supplies and such, but we decided that's waaaaaay too inconvenient.  I think I can act as liaison between all the parties involved and come up with a killer project.

So as is my usual style, I'm starting us off with some before pictures...

Here you see the living room and the front hall/foyer before demo...

Here is the living room fireplace after demo...

I took this shot of that same fireplace, to show how you can see all the way through to the back of the house...

It's really not easy to get good before, during and after shots sometimes, but at least you get the gist of the size of this project.  The house which looks like this from the outside...

is basically a skeleton on the inside.  It's interesting to see this type of remodel in progress, and you can only imagine the debris that resulted from the demolition.  See that board on the front steps, well that was how they wheeled the downstairs trash to the dumpster...they brought the upstairs materials down the hall staircase by hand and in five gallon buckets.  Those guys were totally beat after it was done.

The contractor, TD, told me that it took eight loads to remove everything.  That's not counting what people removed from the dumpster, which wasn't a huge amount, but they did take wood and other items that they could use.

Well, that's it for me today.  Hopefully my pictures will be better next time, but until then we'll use our imagination as to what might be going on.

Have a great day and enjoy life...

I've been back quite some time...

Yeppers, I've been back a while and keep wanting to make a clever post and show tons of pictures and all the fun we had, but all I get done is listen to Kid Rock and paint.  So with that in mind here is what I painted after I returned, while jammin out to my favorite recording artist...

I

I used one of my favorite photos from one of my recent trips and decided to go larger than I usually do.  It is done on a 24 x 36 canvas in acrylic paint.

And to close this really quick post, I leave you with a duet by Sheryl Crowe and Kid Rock called Picture.

We'll talk soon, I promise.

She's off gallivanting again...

Yes, by the time some of you read this I will be back on the big silver bird, headed to the left coast.  In the spirit of creativity and imagination, I leave you with this sepia ink drawing...

I'm working on an idea for a picture and while this is not it at all, it did help me to loosen up some so I can go in the direction I want.

So until you see something new here, let's assume I'm either in California, recovering from the trip to California or planning another trip to California.

Have fun and see you soon.

It's been a long time since I posted anything here...

It's been almost a month since I made a post.  My sister came in and we hung out doing all kinds of fun things...

Most of them involved laughing and taking selfies...

We went to visit the old home place, which sister has purchased and is going to remodel...

(This is a year old shot of of the house)

It will probably take six to eight months to bring this lovely home back to it's former glory, but TD and his crew will be doing the remodel, so we know it's in good hands.

Earlier in the month I took Chelsie out for a little shopping spree and a Ulta makeover...

She's a sweet kid and she and I hang out all the time.  When Peri was here, Chelsie, her boyfriend and her dad hung out with us a bunch.  So much that when it was time for Peri to start making her arrangements to return home to California, she was sad and said "I wish I was going, too".  This one brief, heart-felt statement quickly evolved into an upcoming trip with me out to see Peri and Peg.  We figured it may be the only time she gets the chance to take such a trip and when she said she wished her dad could come, too...yep, you guessed right, next month the three of us are flying out to stay with them for several days.

They have several fun things planned for us and there is also the possibility that in June I will be going back again, so my summer will be a whirl-wind of travel.

After all this globetrotting is done, I am going to reevaluate my lifestyle. I'm much heavier than I really want to be, so I will be getting back on track with healthier eating and much more movement.

All this being said, I hope to be back to more regular blogging soon with lots of vacation pictures and hopefully some positive lifestyle changes that I'll want to share with you.

Until then, take care and remember to love someone.  Love them as a friend, a sister, a daughter or a snuggle buddy, whatever works for you.  Just remember to let yourself love...and be loved back.

Just don't know what to post...

I still love to blog, it just seems that I don't do it as much as in years past.  People change, things change, yada, yada, yada.

One of the things I promised myself I would do this year is frame and hang my own art.  I have finally gotten around to doing this.

Here you see a copy of a Monet that I did in acrylic...

Here is a still life that I did in soft pastel...

Here is the final version of the view of the stormy sky from my sister's driveway, done in pastels.

I call this one Carlsbad at Dusk.  I painted it in 2010 with pan pastels, using a photo I took in California as my reference.

I framed and hung this little color pencil drawing and decided that the laundry room was a good space for it.

Here is the pastel that I did of the old home place, showcasing my grandmother's flowers.  This was done from a small Instamatic print from way back when.

Speaking of Kodak Instamatic prints, this was painted using an old vacation picture taken in Florida by my husband's brother when they were kids.

Here is a small piece that I copied using one of my favorite pictures (painted by my sister) as a "go-by".  They say you learn by copying the masters...enough said.  Oh, and say hi to my little cardinal friend, an original by Karen Pender at Countryfolk Keepsakes.  Gotta love her! (Karen and the cardinal)

Here is a quick shot of the barn paintings that I currently use as the banner for my blog...

And last, but certainly not least here is a quick shot of where I have been doing my mat cutting and framing.  After spending almost $300.00 having two pieces framed professionally, I decided to save some dough and do it myself.  Maybe not exactly as precise, but sometimes it really is all about the Benjamins.  If I can make my are look presentable for half the price, you know I'm going to do it.  That leaves more money for art supplies...I'm just sayin'.

Sorry if some of the pictures are hard to see because of the glare.  I'm way too trifling to take them off the wall to get a professional looking shot of each one.  My house is finally looking like my own personal art gallery.  I still have lots of wall space and that means there will be more art to come. 

In the meantime, I may be taking a break from art and setting up the sewing machine or making some funky jewelry.  Who knows, with me?  I keep my needlepoint station set up to work on and I've always got at least one book that I'm reading and I'm learning to do Sudoku puzzles.  I stay busy and hopefully soon, Sister Peri will soon be visiting so I'm looking forward to that.  I'll try not to wait so long between posts,  but I can't promise.

Love you bunches and we'll talk soon.

Just to name a few...

I stay very busy.  Whether it is just sitting at home watching a marathon of one of my favorite shows, or going shopping, or cooking or whatever, I consider this being busy.  I am never bored (or boring either) and I thought I would just toss out some pictures to show what I've done since my last post...

 I posted a picture from 2000 for throwback Thursday...

 I got a new ring that was TOTALLY on sale at Macy's...

 I baked, making cheese danishes from canned croissant rolls...

I cooked, making a yummy sloppy joe, pasta sauce concoction...

I manipulated and printed out a picture of a wild looking California sky in Peri's neighborhood for a possible painting...

I took a picture of a really beautiful sunset sky in my neighborhood...

and I wore wild socks with flip flops to the grocery store....because I can.

Of course, I have done a lot more than that, but I don't want to overload your donkey.  We had a beautiful day yesterday with temps sky rocketing to about 76 degrees but our forecast for today is serious, severe weather with very high winds and rain and a 40 degree drop in temps... starting about three o'clock and lasting all evening.

I didn't get my newspaper delivered this morning and since this has happened several times in the past few weeks, I went online and registered a complaint with the newspaper.  My doorbell just rang with a newspaper being personally delivered to make up for the mistake.  Have to admit, even though we only have one major newspaper in our area, that is a nice touch.  Guess in this day of computers, the print industry (no matter how small) will do whatever they have to keep the readers happy.

Speaking of keeping readers happy, as far as my comment section goes I only hear from one or two of my readers. I'm not concerned, as I truly believe that you, all my loyal fans are still reading so this is for you....

Thanks so much for staying with me for all these years.  Through all my ups and downs you've been there.  You may have not really known about the downs because I am a great believer in "rolling with the punches"..."brushing myself off"... "pulling up my bootstraps"...and "rubbing some dirt on it"...to get past whatever has me down or miffed or confused.  Those of you who know me, know where I feel that my strength actually comes from, so I wont go into all that.  With all that being said, I want to say "hey, you, thanks for checking out my little blog" and "even though you may not have time to comment I know you're still there."

Take care and be sweet. 

I'm waiting for spring...

I'm not wishing my life away, but I am ready for Spring.  I don't have much to post tonight, just a few selfies and some other stuff...

As you know I spent a week with my sisters in San Diego.  I took selfies there  (it's what I do) and you will notice that I apparently wear this orange blouse all the time.  You see it here in the sunshine of California and you see it here as I wallow in my new shoes that we shipped home...

You see it yet again, as I show you the blue sky that contributed to the melting that finally went on here after the snow...

Sometimes my favorite orange shirt isn't visible....

I'm pretty sure I was wearing it in both of these snowy shots that I took before I was attacked by food poisoning later this snowy evening...

Here's a fun selfie that I took back in California...

In this shot I'm wearing my newest favorite shirt that I got when Peri and I indulged in a bit of retail therapy at a shop called Fairen Del.  It's such an interesting shop and I try to always stop in for something new.

OK, enough about me.  Here are a few shots of some of the cool art pieces that Peri and Peg have in their home.

Here are two really cool sculptures...( I include my hand for size and perspective)

This is a really interesting piece...

She has many other pieces which I will try to show you as the weeks go by. 

Here is a mosiac piece that will certainly catch your eye...

It has several companion pieces...

Peri is like so many of us are, her tastes in art are constantly changing and usually very eclectic.  She, being an artist herself, finds the art of others interesting and motivating.  Sometimes we fall in love with an artist's work because it reminds us of our own style, or perhaps because it is something completely different from what we do.

Whatever the reason is, most of us have favorite styles of art, be it jewelry, dolls, painting or quilts.  Art is in the eye of the beholder and I also love seeing what is out there.

Well,that's it for today.  I'll keep going through the hundreds of photos that I took, in hopes of finding something fun and interesting to show you.

Take care and stay safe and creative.

Winter storm PAX

Oh My....what a week it's been here.  I fully intended to do lots of posting here showing the progress of the snow and going outside and taking pictures of what I was sure would be about 6-8 inches of snow. I settled in when the snow started about 2:30 p.m., right on schedule.  I sat in the snow/sun room watching it snow and eating everything that I could get my hands on.

Here is the first hour of the storm...

Not too bad a start.  I'm thinking 6-8 inches and it will be an adventure...

Well, my adventure arrived about 10:30 Wednesday night, after Chelsie and her boyfriend walked to my house in what was then 7 inches of snow.  It was cold and her hair was frozen and she was having a blast.  Ahhh, the enthusiasm of a nineteen year old...

The urge to run to the bathroom hit me right as she and Jordan were playing in the snow and fortunately for everyone involved, they didn't stay long.  I began a very long night of being sick (both ways) in the bathroom.  I wont go into the details, obviously, but I was pretty sick.  Short version, it lasted all night and most of the next day, as did the snow.  We ended up with 22 inches. Ugh.

TD called me a couple times the next day offering to bring ginger ale or something, but I really didn't want any company at that time.  Later my next door neighbor showed up with food and ginger ale, I stayed on the couch until bed time and I made it through another night.

Friday I was able to get up and take a shower and blow dry my hair, which is probably why I didn't realize this was going on in the driveway...

The sky was blue and it was about 55 degrees. The snowplows had to concentrate on the main roads, so these guys (TD and son) shoveled both of their own drives and mine and another one of their friend's.  They said to call when the snow plow came through so they could make an opening for me to actually get out of the driveway afterwards, but I'm slow to want to get out anyway. I know those guys must be sore today.

Well, that's my pictorial description of the snow.  I know that I fared a lot better than my friend Karin, who lost control of her jeep and had quite a scare.  Glad she is OK.

Now we have high wind warnings.  I'm so over this, just waiting for everything to get back to normal, whatever and whenever that will be.

Take care and stay safe.