I LOVE RED ... and COWS!

It is one week before our people come to our Bed and Breakfast to begin selling at the Round Top Antiques Fair ....two whole weeks of it!! So I will post a a few quick fun things before I get too busy. First is ... yes... I like ...LOVE .... red! And two RED treasures I found this week are posted here. The first is the RED BANDANA BUCKETS, which I will use for our big 4th of July Celebration, I found them on Saturday at the Jersey Barnyard's Gift Shop, an absolutely precious place to take children and big kids too!! Here is their website .... www.texasjersey.com....if you want to experience a heart warming effort to show real country life with dairy cows, goats, chickens, rabbits...feed the baby calves and experience the real life on a farm...even a hay ride to the dairy ... yes a dairy where they get your milk to be exact! And you get to meet "Belle"... the famous Bluebelle Ice Cream Cow you have seen on commercials. It is worth it I promise!! ... and as we were leaving ...the gals were going to do all the feeding!! The next RED thing that I found is the little feed sack dress my own precious Mother hand made for me when I was about 1 year old or less, now I'm 63! I have cherished it for so long and want to frame it some way . Do you see that she hand embroidered little flowers on the front (she taught me to embroider and sew) and then she even picked two little heart shape buttons for the back. As I look at these pictures I imagined her sewing them on and it is still the same thread she used. I just wanted to share my red things for the week! Then I am posting some pictures of our Grand daughter feeding the animals at the Jersey Barnyard .... I won't show it all...you need to go there... it was a perfect day!!! Spring is here!! We live in such a blessed nation and I hope you will all take it in and appreciate all the hard work of our ancestors ..... that made it what it still is to this day. Don't miss our rich heritage, cherish your freedom and share it with others ..... God's Rich Blessings to you all! Happy Spring!!! ....I told you ... the Pioneer Woman has done something to me.....takes me back to the good times.

A FINISHED PIECE....?

I love my head band ..... HOPE ....there is always HOPE! I found this great quote and decided I needed to WEAR IT...."The Lord has an incredible destiny for you..." I'll take that!! A FINISH ...? The last post was called "a start" ..... I'm still not sure about this so called "Self-Portrait" .... it may never be finished .... so many things wouldn't work .... certain colors on top of the dried medium ....too slick for paint to stick ... etc .... so I've definately learned a lot! .....BUT MOSTLY, about myself!!! This piece revealed things about my life..... like it is very cluttered, and complex....which I know I am... not necessarily a good thing. I discovered that who I am begins with my Mother, the heart of the family and a Father who was a hard worker, and provided for us all, even later if we needed it. He also went to war to fight for our country and I'm proud of that...as did my husband. The baby bracelet with my maiden name encircles my Father and Mother...representing my natural birth. The vase is blooming as children do, then the strong thick branches are my strong personality and stuborness.....but there is greenery.... or growth....with eventually a flower or two....working thru the growth to finally bloom through difficulties that arose in my life.... we all have them, but the flower finally comes. I love birds and lots of details in life ... maybe too many details .... guess what.... I talk a lot! No surprise. The two whimsical portraits on the left are my favorites.... the top one was a drawing by a special little boy at age seven. It is the way he sees me. I like the way he sees me. The bottom one was altered with the computer, ... I would love it on a business card. The portrait on the right is a one line (sort of) drawing that doesn't focus on the age, wrinkles, grey hair or sallow skin and no reading glasses. I decided to ignore THOSE details!! I couldn't get my hair dark enough with the pencils I was using.... anyway, the Psalm 139 help me to realize that I was formed and known about when I was in my Mother's womb. And that I don't have to be perfect to be HIS child.... but that He knows me and loves me and has worked in my life to help me become who I really am..... it begins as a child....as seen in the lower left in the pieces that show the importance of children to Jesus. Matthew 18:1-5 was a crucial teaching for me,...read on further....6,7,...etc.... showing me that He actually protected me in many situations growing up. When I found Romans 8:16 and decided to add it to all the other elements, I teared up because I had actually put elements that told who I was... and now who I am in my spirit... His Child ... inspite of struggles ....He began the work in me, and I know it and am so thankful for His persistence and patience , His grace and mercy, and finally His gift of love. I know ... it's all about ME ... but it is a self portrait ... with a lot of details that came out....a story. It will stay in my studio.....it was just for me.

A Year Ago...A Special Guest...

One year ago in January "us girls" had a special surprise birthday for our long time friend Linda....who had lived away for almost ten years...then moved back to Texas. She was very surprised....as her husband Rich (his idea!) and her Mother and Father from Brenham kept the secret making their way to our area to treat them to a special restaurant...hahaha...when they came to pick us up...the whole old gang of friends were hiding in the house....I thought she was going to end up on the floor she was so surprised....it was a special day laughing and remembering how we had all met and how we had helped with each one's kids growing up....etc. The reason I am posting this is to honor her as a friend and to HONOR her Father, J.F. and Mother, Bonnie and her family...but mainly because her Father went home to be with the Lord a few weeks ago. No matter how many years our parents live it is always hard to lose them....we've had them around so long....and we are comforted by their unconditional love and presence....at least that is true for Linda and Rich and their family. We will miss J.F. and how his eyes lit up when he was with his family....he and Bonnie...he was a sweet Father and husband and friend to my Father....Happy Birthday Linda(coming up soon), on a sadder note....but I just wanted to share what a special DAD you had and what a special friend you and Rich are...both! We will remember your Dad with fondness....and pray for comfort for your Mom and the family who loved him so much.

TREASURES FROM MY MOTHER...

I've been weeding out and going through old china that I had collected for years....and in a box of my Mother's stuff, I found these "Bird Nests"...in some plastic ice cream containers......obviously cherished and prized by her.....I don't know how I missed them.....but it is like a little visit from her....the eggs were mine and I added them for these pictures....feel free to use these photos if you like for art work.....she LOVED birds and she would watch a pair of Cardinals move their babies from the nest ....even if it took all afternoon! I know because I sat with her on one of those occasions....and now finding these "Nests" makes me so grateful for that afternoon with her....just before she had her stroke. She was partially paralyzed for thirteen years and couldn't walk or talk....but she would ...Oooo and Ahhh ...and make precious sounds...kind of like baby talk while smiling big....winking...and squeezing your hand! You always knew what she was saying! She loved people...especially children. Everyone in all the stores knew her! They would run over to her wheel chair as she made her way over to them....and there were lots of hugs....always. She was so much fun....Once when riding with me to go to my tenth year high school reunion....we kept seeing all these vegetables all over the highway!! She insisted we stop and retrieve as many as possible.....she said, "They are perfectly good....and not a bruise on them!" We kept stopping for more on this almost deserted highway, occasionally seeing an eighteen wheeler.....and a few coyotes.......we began to laugh and laugh at the sight of....US! She said, "I can just see the headlines in the paper...."TWO 'CUTE' TOMATOES....RUN OVER BY AN EIGHTEEN WHEELER WHILE PICKING UP VEGETABLES.................on the highway!" We were cute BACK THEN.......in those days. She was loved and cherished by our whole family....especially loved by my Dad in his special way....buying her diamonds and caring for her those thirteen years in a wheelchair.....always making sure she had her nails painted and taking her weekly to have her hair done......he (Pappa) was a regular at the local beauty shop......he would sweep up for the gals when they were cutting hair......not too bad for a retired Colonel!....however he was a farm boy....and I was proud of that more.....proud of both of them....they were loved and are so missed. Nelda, thank you for painting those wonderful bird nests....and bringing back memories of a loved and cherished Mother....and her bird nests! (We LOVED Dad too!) Check her (Nelda's) blog for the paintings!...and my friend PJ'S too!!