4-11-16 ~ The Little Green Man

Hope Little Green Man Puts a Smile on Your Face Today

4-10-16 ~ Welcome Back

"Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head

 and keeps peeling away until he finishes the job he starts."

~Coleman Cox

4-9-16 ~ Mice, Cheese, and Teacups

I am in love with Dea Lenihan's blog. Here is the link to her site: http://dea-lenihan.blogspot.com .
She is a wonderful illustrator, teacher, and so graciously shares much of her things with all of us. This was a piece she posted for anyone to download and color. It was so cute I could not resist. I use pen and ink filling in every little bit on the page, and watercolors. The basic drawing is hers and the coloration is mine. It makes me smile. So many little mice and so much yummy cheese. It is mice heaven.

This was SO much fun to colorize. 

Print it out and go for it. You won't be disappointed.

4-7-16 and 4-8-16 ~ Church on Way to Crabtree Falls

 This wonderful little church is on the winding road to Crabtree Falls. The address is Tyro, VA, but I was unable to find out when it was built. For some reason it reminded me of the old hymn, 'Little Brown Church in the Wildwood."  It was precious church and in my mind a wonderful place to have a wedding.

I decided to see if I could find a photo of the church for which the hymn was named and this is what I found. "The Little Brown Church" is a historic church located at 2730 Cheyenne Avenue in Nashua, Iowa that was made famous by a song, The Church in the Wildwood. The structure was completed in 1864. Wikipedia

Words & Music: Will­iam S. Pitts, 1857 (MI­DI, score):

One bright af­ter­noon of a day in June 1857, I first set foot in old Brad­ford, Io­wa, com­ing by stage from Mc­Greg­or. My home was in Wis­con­sin. The spot where the “Lit­tle Brown Church” now stands was a set­ting of rare beau­ty. There was no church there but the spot was there wait­ing for it. When back in my home I wrote the song ‘The Lit­tle Brown Church in the Vale.’ I put the man­u­script away. In the spring of 1862 I re­turned to Io­wa and set­tled at Fred­er­icks­burg…
In the years of 1859 and 1860 the good peo­ple of Brad­ford were de­ter­mined to build a church…By the ear­ly win­ter of 1864 the build­ing was rea­dy for ded­i­ca­tion. While I was hold­ing the sing­ing school, near its close in the spring, the class went one ev­en­ing to the church. It was not then seat­ed, but rude seats were im­pro­vised. My man­u­script of the song I had brought with me from Wis­con­sin. It had ne­ver been sung be­fore by an­y­one but my­self. I sang it there. Soon af­ter­wards I took the man­u­script to Chi­cago [Ill­i­nois], where it was pub­lished by H. M. Hig­gins. It won a speedy re­cog­ni­tion lo­cal­ly and with the years won its way in­to the hearts of the peo­ple of the world.
Soon after its pub­li­ca­tion the church at Brad­ford, which had been paint­ed brown (for want of mo­ney to buy bet­ter paint, some say), be­came known as “The Lit­tle Brown Church in the Vale.” My hope is that it will stand for a thou­sand years and call the old man and his de­scend­ants to wor­ship.

There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood,
No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.

Refrain

Come to the church in the wildwood,
Oh, come to the church in the dale,
No spot is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.

How sweet on a clear, Sabbath morning,
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.

Refrain

There, close by the church in the valley,
Lies one that I loved so well;
She sleeps, sweetly sleeps, ’neath the willow,
Disturb not her rest in the vale.

Refrain

There, close by the side of that loved one,
To trees where the wild flowers bloom,
When the farewell hymn shall be chanted
I shall rest by her side in the tomb.

Refrain

From the church in the valley by the wildwood,
When day fades away into night,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light.

Refrain

4-6-16 ~ Update on Oscar the Baby Squirrel

Last night Buddy and I drove Little Oscar over the mountain to the the loveliest lady in Covington, VA. She has been a rescue volunteer for 16 years. The minute she looked at Oscar she said..."On, dear, half his tail is gone, but he appears to be in good shape." This has Bud concerned because he has always thought that squirrels used their tails for balance. That dog-gone Jack. Could he have eaten the tail or just bitten it off? I surely hope it is the latter.  The volunteer brought a sock filled with rice she has heated in the microwave to keep him warm, and said she was taking him home immediately and giving him an IV feeding. Poor little thing. I feel so badly for him...and I will never look at a squirrel the same ever again. I feel like we have lost a part of the family. Poor Eloise...she wanted us to keep him for a pet. Don't think so. Oh...the other two babies have never appeared. I have looked all over the yard, so maybe he was the only one that fell from the nest.

I just went out to look again for the babies, and this tail was on the ground just past the  first step to our front porch.  You can see where it was severed. I am wondering if this could have been the mother...and it is interesting that it was right at the front steps. Surely Jack did't do that!!!

4-5-16 ~ Our Surprise Baby Squirrel, Oscar, and Me following the Road to Success

This afternoon, Jack our old and deaf schnauzer brought home Mommy a baby squirrel. Fortunately he had it by its tail. I had a devil of a time getting it away from him, but finally had it wrapped warmly in a soft towel in my arms. Then I called the Animal Rescue League and got my instructions.  No milk or water. No food. Put him in a box where it was dark and quiet. Put a heating pad 1/2 way under the box so he would wiggle over there to get warm. I am to meet the lady at 5:00 tomorrow afternoon to deliver him to safety. I had no clue you had to be trained and licensed to take in wild animals like my wee squirrel. Night before last we had 85 mph winds and lost electricity and phone service for a very long time. Buddy thinks the wind must have blown it out of its nest up in the tree. Anyway, here are some pictures I took of my baby. It is adorable and loved being held close by me. We were laughing that he though I was his mommy and wanted some food...I Think NOT! Anyway, I will be up and down all night checking on him to be sure the heating pads have not cut off. It is supposed to get down to freezing. Keep your fingers crossed for Oscar that he makes it through the night without any problems. He appears to be breathing and sleeping just fine.

 "Hi, folks...My name is Oscar, but my step-mommy does not know if I am a boy or a girl and I certainly don't! Her dog grabbed me by my short little tail and about dragged me back to the house. When step-mommy tried to get him to release my tail from his mouth, but he was very uncooperative. I think he thought I was a doggie toy. Very carefully she freed me, wrapped me up in a cozy and fluffy towel, and called for help. Jack was so worn out he just hopped into his kennel and went to sleep. Now, that's a silly dog for you. "

     "It is so hard for a little newborn squirrel to stand upon wobbly legs, but I will learn before long. It's just gonna take lots and lots of practice." 
I really do need my REAL mommy.

"Well, I'm exhausted so think I'll just throw in the rag and quit this trying to move about. It is just too much trouble. Plus...I have had a very hard day and want to go back to sleep.That devilish old Jack did not help me at all other than to bring me dangling in midair into a nice warm house."

Oh, I forgot the other happy news.....the ladies at the Rescue League informed me the litters are usually three, so if Jack brings in another one or two, not to be alarmed. Just call and they will meet me halfway and take them, too.  We live about 100 miles roundtrip from their two locations so wish us luck.

Nite Nite from Oscar and Genie

We'll let you all know how we get along tonight by adding an addendum onto the end of this post once we are awake and functioning in the morning. Never a dull moment out here in the boonies. Over the almost 40 years, we have tried and tried to rescue litter of kittens, a family of little bunnies, and stray gods and cats and have never had any luck. I surely hope this cute little Oscar is going to be a toughie and hang on until I can get him to the people that do this every day.

Here is another sketch I have been working on for my class.

As you can see...I am praying for success. I'm definitely following the sign.

Have Hope. You can do anything if you'll just put your mind to it.
Remember....The Sky's the Limit!

4-4-16 ~ Umbrellas and Best Friends

Years ago ...around 1970...Weezie took her four children and my two to Palm Beach to my parent's homein her big red station wagon...before seat belts. While there went to the beach every day. The children were always with us, but there were too many of them to put in this little picture. Once again I am including my dearest friend in my picture.

Here are the two old Poloroid photos I still have. They are in bad shape, but at least they give you an idea of the real scene I was thinking about.

 My daughter is on the right and Weezie's daughter on the right. 

They are now 52.

The two boys are Weezie's sons. 

...And here we are...Weezie and me in all of our youthful glory...hehehe.

I think I am 30 and Weezie 32, but that's a guess. Boy, have we changed!

I used watercolors, Copic markers, and some pen and ink. 

This post is linked with:

I Play Along with Inspirational  and The Three Muses.

4-3-16 ~ A View of the Field and Sky behind Highland Belle

Those of you that have know me for ever so long remember how I would stop at this field on my way to school to take photos of the hay bales and the fence day after day. My favorite tree is directly across the road from this. Well, our electric cooperative, BARC, bought the old school where my children went to school, where I taught, and where I walked the track for years while Budud would run and are putting up a solar field. Everything is different now. No lacrosse or soccer field for the children to use in the afternoons and our track is gone. Still, the field behind the building for now is beautiful, and it was such a pretty day I just had to stop, pause, and remember so many days from the past. 

4-2-16 ~ My Eloise Turns Eleven Today

"Children are the rainbow of life. Grandchildren are the pot of gold."

~Irish Blessing

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, ELOISE

 I mixed textures, duplicated textures, messed around with levels, and then in the end I added Kim's beautiful "I'm Everything" texture. 

The words on her texture are:
You touched my hand; I could touch the sky.
You were my strength when I was weak.
I'm everything I am because you loved me.
You gave me wings and made me fly.
I lost my faith; you gave it back.

4-1-16 ~Two New Views of My Favorite Tree

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy 

is in the eyes of others only a green thing which is in their way."

~William Blake 

For this picture I used two of Kim Klaassen's textures, duplicated one, 

and changed the coloration with a "hue" level.

Original Picture -  SOC
If you look, you will see all the new growth coming forth.