"Apple Lotion"

My girl and I have started our class. I suppose you can call it a preschool, but I'm still with her the whole time. We go two days a week and that's plenty. There are a lot of free preschools opening up this fall, but I'm not interested in having my Toot in school five days a week. I am in no hurry to send her into the public schools. Financially we are managing just fine and I don't feel I'm missing out on any of the new phones and pads coming out every few months. As you can see I'm perfectly satisfied with my sketchbook and new markers.

"Snacks"

I am no longer caring for my mother-in-law. Sista has come up with new

arrangements and has raised the rent another hundred dollars. We can manage and we are ready for more unexpected changes. I can handle change well, now.

I focus on NOW.

Hiding Comments for Awhile

Photo: Our summer field trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

I've decided to omit the option for my readers to post comments. Not because I've been getting undesirable comments or spam, but because we are going through some changes here at home and I need to get through this with some sense of empowerment. Is that right? Is it okay for me to want to have a feeling of control when I know that everything I ever plan doesn't comes out the way I hoped it would. Most times the outcome is good and I've FINALLY learned to see the good in just about everything that's been happening in my life...once a major hurdle for me.

So here's the change: We may be moving out of our home and back into an apartment within a year. At the present time I am taking care of my mother-in-law 2 to 3 days a week. I won't get into the details of all I have to do for her, but she basically needs everything done for her and I am the one who is doing it for her. This is her home and she needs 24/7 care and I can't do it. It would be

impossible for me to take Toot to her classes two days a week. We pay rent, but we are living on the edge with an unpredictable relative ( Let's call her "Sista") who has been unreasonable with our schedule and the care my mother-in-law's needs. Sista has been making changes to the house and we've been cooperative with her schedule of people she's been sending to make these changes. Now September is coming and she's starting to dig her heals into the ground with the schedule we will need to go by so my girl can take her classes. Tomorrow we (might) find out what her problem is with the schedule. We had given her a schedule back in July and she's now telling us that it's not going to workout...a week before classes start. I don't know what to expect, but having to move out just may be our only option.

Enough of that. I have obviously been busy and I have not been able to paint. This has been a real disappointment which I have not been able to turn into a positive. Stop! That's not true because I have been sketching a lot and this has been a relief from the caregiving. I've got sketchbooks everywhere: My backpack, my car, dining room table, and my bedroom. Just so I can sketch for a few minutes. Here's an outline drawing I did of my Toot while we had an afternoon snack.

I just want to say that we did have a great summer filled with many new places and new friends. I'm sad that it has come to an end. We will have many wonderful memories of our summer here in Grandma's house.

Our First Harvest - Onions

I've always wanted to have a farm. I think most kids like the idea of farming. As you can see, my girl is basking in our first harvest of onions. At first I wasn't sure if I was doing it right, but I kept an eye on them and we watered pretty regular and here we are. It sure feels fantastic knowing that I can grow some edibles.

One of these had a flower growing from the end. Toot put the flower in a vase with water and it's on our dining room table now. Fresh smell of onion while we have our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's right, the flower smells like onion. You can kind of get see the flower on the first picture. It's bent forward and touching the ground, white flowers.

They need to air dry for a couple of days. I'll also be cutting off the stems and roots in a few days and letting them dry some more.

The Gorilla was even impressed with our gardening. He said, "You ARE a hippie!".

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!

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.