Monday, May 24, 2010

Chasing the sun for good light


It always feels good to get several hours for painting. I've been working on this piece for several months now. Lately I've been lucky to get a Saturday or Sunday to paint for a few hours. Come this summer I will have more time to paint. It's probably difficult to make out, but it is a landscape. Landscapes have been on my mind a lot and it's been easy for me to express these visions in my latest paintings. I need to get out in open spaces. My girl has been noticing how much I enjoy painting. On this day she gathered her art supplies and started to draw on her table beside me. She's learning to spend more time on her drawings. Her details amaze and inspire me. Love!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Her Favorite color is Green

Her favorite color is Green!
*image from Google Images

It's been two months since I've posted here on my blog. I'm glad to say that things have settled a bit and I can concentrate on projects that I've postponed because of lack of time and money. I had to do a lot of thinking about my situation and not get sidetracked into a different direction because I was isolating.

Back to my goal: Simple living, recycle and reuse anything that can be fixed or given to someone who can use.

I did go through a month when I felt a strong urge to become friends with a mother in one of our Mommy & Me classes. She and I went out to dinner in the city at a popular somewhat upscale restaurant. To tell the truth - I wouldn't be able to say what upscale is. All I know is that I felt uncomfortable. I had no dressy clothes for the kind of restaurant it was and it turned out to be a bit more expensive than I had expected. The parking was $7 and I'm not used to paying for parking to eat out at a restaurant. The food was good, but the conversation was one sided. It was difficult to make my food last an hour and a half when I was doing the listening. My new friend had made it clear that she enjoyed fine dining and pampering herself by spending money. I knew I could not keep up with her tastes or entertainments. When I got home I felt like a pup with my tail between my legs. What did I expect? Why couldn't I find like minded friends? A week later, after my bruises had slowly disappeared, it became clear that I had strayed from my goals.

So the fog has cleared and I am back on track. I am growing some yellow onions outback. I've gone to St. Vincent's to purchase three new "used" t-shirts - $4 for all three, and I wear them proudly. I've decided to continue with the Homeschooling and a couple of Mommy and Me classes for another year for my Toot. I am still painting, but it's coming along slowly.
I have also met an amazing woman who has taken me under her wing to guide me into a healthier body. We've already met and we walked for an hour yesterday. While we walked she gave me tips on healthy eating. I was amazed to see her lunch bag filled with one ingredient foods. Six meals a day and all small portions. Wow!! Her favorite color is Green and for fun she plays her guitar at home and would like to be a Hippie full-time!

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Here are some photos of a project the Toot and I worked on in April, but never found time to post.

Caterpillar to Butterfly



The caterpillar came in this container with food already packed at the bottom. You can't see the caterpillar, but when we got the little creature it was about 3/8".


I was amazed how quickly it grew in 7-10 days. Here it was about 3/4" and plump.


Making a background for the caterpillar's new home, a box.


The Toot's drawing of the caterpillar inside he chrysalis. We got so busy with the construction of the box that I forgot to take a photo of the chrysalis stage.


Out and all grown up with its new wings!


Getting ready to release in our backyard.


Luxurious butterfly home - vacancy!
At Kidspace they were selling netted butterfly containers about this size for twenty dollars. We didn't spend a cent to make this homemade one.