Is this Spring?

Just a quick post before I'm off to bed. Had to get on some pics of our crazy spring snow blizzard that blew through last weekend! Here is my big baby boy, Koda. The snow didn't stop him from wanting to play ball! St. Francis looks quite handsome in his snow-covered robe don't you think? Behind him is my rose bush getting ready to bloom. The city here was pretty much shut down last Friday night & Saturday but by Monday you couldn't even tell it had snowed except for the huge dirty mountains of snow left in the parking lots. We've been so dry here I think the ground just drank it all up! It was fun while it lasted though.

I've been super busy helping my kiddos with school projects this week so no new painting to speak of yet. I hope to have one up & listed in the next day or 2 so stop back by! Goodnight all!

Spring Pansies...and a BLIZZARD!

Happy Friday all! It's sleeting like crazy outside right now! I love it! We're actually under a "blizzard warning" here in south central Kansas & expected to get a ton of snow between now & tomorrow night. My daughter & I laughed yesterday when we heard all the radio announcements & hullabaloo about the big storm headed our way. Ha! We do get snow but not a heck of a lot & it never hangs around long before it melts. When I hear reports like this I always think "I'll believe it when I see it". Well, I might be believin' it this time! There's at least 1/2 inch of sleet covering the roads & it's now turning over to snow. I did get out this morning & buy more dog food (we were almost out), cat food & more snacky stuff at the store so that's good. I called the high school & gave my oldest daughter permission to come home early. She's a sweet 16 brand new driver so I was nervous but she made it home fine. I still have to get out a bit later & pick up my middle schoolers. Yuck~it's gonna be a mess! I need to mail a painting too so hopefully I can manage to stop by the grocery post office on the way.

Here is my new painting "Pot of Pansies" up for auction this evening on ebay! The blue in it is really much bluer in person. This camera I use does not do blue very well for some reason. Anyway, I was inspired by all the spring pansies I've seen popping up everywhere. They're so pretty in all their different colors! Keep warm, drive safe & have a wonderful weekend!!!

What a life...

Howdy all! I often look at my cats when they're snoozing & think how nice it would be to just lie around & take a nice long nap without a care in the world. I could take a nap every afternoon if the opportunity arose! For some reason, right around 3 o'clock I always get sleepy. It doesn't matter how much sleep I've had the night before or what I'm doing. I always know when it's around 3:00 because I suddenly feel like I've been drugged. Strange. Unfortunately that's when I need to leave to pick up the kiddos from school. Too bad I'm not a cat.

Here is Zoolou in her favorite sleeping pose on the couch (she has claimed one end all to herself) & here's Markie helping me fold towels. What is it with cats & towels? My 2 will come running as soon as I bring a basket out to the living room & proceed to flop down on each towel I lay out to fold. Most of the time they aren't even warm still so I don't know what the attraction is. They must think it's playtime or something. I'll cover one up with a towel & then they'll swat at each other playing hide & seek. It's so funny. I should videotape them sometime.

Happy Tuesday to all! I'm off to start another painting!

Wheelbarrow Ride!

Happy Sunday to all! It's really beginning to feel like spring around here. I'm loving the windy warm weather we've been having! I just hope it doesn't give way to HOT weather too soon. I hate it when I feel we've been cheated out of 60 & 70 degree spring temps! It seems to do that a lot here in Kansas. It will go from cold winter coat weather to 'turn on the air conditioning' weather in a heartbeat! Ugh.

I'm happy to have my commissioned paintings done & a new one for ebay listed just today. "Wheelbarrow Ride" is up for auction now! I'm good at painting pictures of people planting flowers but not that great about getting around to it myself. My daughter is having some friends over this evening for hamburgers, hotdogs & s'mores so I've been cleaning up the back deck & patio. It was a little depressing seeing all the empty flower pots. One day soon I'll get in gear & get my backyard in bloom!

Beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas!

Hi people! I've been busy working on a couple of commissioned paintings this week so the blog's been a little neglected. I also don't have anything new to list on ebay at the moment but I hope to by this weekend.

Last weekend we met some good friends in the little Kansas town of Cottonwood Falls. We did lots of hiking in the Flint Hills & it was just beautiful out there! Perfect weather, no bugs & just so peaceful & relaxing. I've driven through the Flint Hills hundreds of times going back & forth from Kansas City (where I grew up & still have family) & never thought much of them but now I have a whole new appreciation for them! I guess I needed to just get out of the car & actually walk around IN the Flint Hills. It's a whole different perspective. We all stayed at the Stonehouse Bed & Breakfast & it was a great night of drinking wine & hanging with good friends! It's good to get away from the kids once in a while & just have some fun!

The Morris & Gypsy Story & Happy News!

I just had to share my good news with you all! For the past couple years I've been caring for 2 stray kitties that found their way to our cul-de-sac. Gypsy showed up first~a beautiful black petite little girl. Then Morris came along~a stocky orange tabby, very friendly but with a little attitude. They were great buddies & I kept them well fed & sheltered in our garage on cold nights. I managed to get them both to the vet at different times to be spayed & neutered so we wouldn't have kittens to deal with. I thought I would just keep them as outside cats since my 2 indoor cats & dog made it clear they didn't want any more siblings in their house. After a while I realized it just wasn't a good situation for any of us. I hated making them stay outside & seeing their sad faces looking in the doorway every time we went in & out & I also feared they would be run over or turned in to animal control by a neighbor who complained.

I got busy looking for homes for them, had no luck & turned to no-kill, cageless shelters. I found a wonderful place in Lincoln, NE called The Cat House that put them on their waiting list. After several months their number came up & I was able to bring them to the shelter! I decided to take them to the vet first so they would be all up-to-date on their shots, etc. & that's when we sadly found out that Morris had FIV. The Cat House has a room for FeLV cats but not FIV cats so they could not take Morris. They did however tell me about a wonderful place called

Rustic Hollow Shelter in Iowa which is a sanctuary for special needs cats. They have several acres out in the country & 5 different home-like buildings with outdoor enclosures for the cats to come & live out their lives in peace & get loved on by daily volunteers. I called them & they said they could take Morris so we were all set - yay!

I took my daughter out of school one Friday & we made the day-long road trip to Lincoln first to drop Gypsy off, then on to Nashua, IA to drop Morris off. Morris has adjusted wonderfully at Rustic Hollow & is happily living with all his new friends & still not showing any signs of illness! I've been keeping tabs on Gypsy checking the Cat House's website page listing the cats for adoption. I checked it today & got worried because I couldn't find her on the page! I was afraid maybe something had happened to her or she got sick or something. She had only been there barely 2 months so I thought there was no way she could be adopted already but I clicked on the "adopted cats" page & there she was!!! I am SO happy for her! She is now where she belongs~in a nice home with a loving owner safe & warm! Good for you sweet Gypsy!

Just wanted to share their story with you. Check out the Cathouse & Rustic Hollow websites~they are both wonderful places!

Easter Bonnets!

Happy Friday all!

Here's the latest of my creations. You don't see Easter bonnets like these much anymore. I don't know, maybe they still wear them down south. I think they're great!

My artwork has been bugging me lately & I decided it was the big black outlines around everything. My pictures were looking like coloring book pages. Maybe it was all the coloring I did as a child! I was never without a coloring book & huge box of crayons! I guess I still have that urge to stay inside the lines & make all the edges smooth & perfect. I'm trying to get away from that so this painting has no black outlines! I think it has a much softer look & I'm happy how it turned out. Easter Bonnets is up for auction on ebay now!

Have a great weekend!!!

Waiting for Spring...

Good morning! Actually, I don't mind a few more weeks of winter. I like my comfy sweats & cozying up in the house working on paintings & this & that. Much as I love spring I'm not quite ready for shorts or yard work.

I did however feel like creating a springy painting! This one titled Spring Flowers is up for auction now on ebay! Today I'm working on another spring painting. I'm thinking frilly Easter hats! Happy hump day everybody!

And the Thunder Rolls!

Happy Monday to ya! It was a great day to paint ~ cloudy with rain clouds gathering all day. After getting Koda (the dog) to the groomer & back I worked on another painting. It's a springy one & will be listed tomorrow. It never fails, every time Koda gets a bath it rains within a day. Oh well, he's all fresh & clean now & the rain's already stopped. I thought we were going to get a storm tonight but it was just a few rumbles & sprinkles. Darn! I really need to post a picture of Koda soon. I should've taken a before & after pic of him today!

Gaelic Storm was AWESOME Saturday night! The pics above are of Pete (the cute one!) who plays wicked pipes & tin whistle & Jessie the amazing fiddle player! The show was so fun ~ lots of audience participation & funny stories from Patrick Murphy! Our new favorite G.S. song right now is "What's the Rumpus?" ~ foot stompin' & hilarious! After the show, as if on cue, it started to STORM as we walked to the car! So cool!

Tomorrow I'll have a pic of my new painting to show you. Hurry back!

Friday Already?

Hi all! Thought I'd get in another quick post before the weekend hits. I can't believe it's Friday again already. Not that I mind. I'm taking my 14 yr. old twins (boy & girl) to Kansas City after school today. We'll be staying at my mom's & tomorrow night we're going to the Gaelic Storm concert! Woohoo! My son absolutely loves them (he hears me play my cds) so this was one of his Christmas presents. He's being nice & letting his sister come too. If you know them, you know what a fun group they are. If you don't you're missing out! I saw them last year & it was one of the funnest shows I've ever been to. They just look like they're having a blast up on the stage & they play the kind of music you can't help but bounce around to! We can't wait.

Above is my latest painting, Little Red Chair. I collect little antique/prim wooden chairs & this was my latest find. I had to get it in a painting! It will be up for auction on ebay this evening. Looks like nice weather for the weekend but I'm ready for a long overdue spring thunderstorm! I swear it hasn't rained or snowed here in about a month! Get with it Mother Nature!

Jigs & Reels...

My daughter & I have taken Irish dance for 7 years & just love it! I've always wanted to do a painting with an Irish dancer & with St. Patty's Day around the corner I thought now was the perfect time. I think she turned out quite spiffy in her dance dress, poodle socks & ghillies. I also know from personal experience how fun those long laces are for kitties! This dancer Colleen & her cat Seamus will be up for auction on ebay this evening. Check her out!

What's with the weather today??? It's the first week of March & we have 84 degrees here in Wichita! I was out in the backyard this morning picking up poop (from my humungo dog-ha) & started to sweat! That's just wrong! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy spring but I'm not ready for the dog days of August yet! I just drove in a blizzard last weekend & today you could wear shorts. That's Kansas for you. They say if you don't like the weather in Kansas just wait a day!

In Like a Lion!

Hello People!

Boy, March sure blew in like crazy here! My daughter & I were driving up to Topeka Saturday morning & suddenly we were in a blizzard! It was about 13 degrees & sooo cold! Had a great time with our friends tho.

I'm waiting for a new shipment of canvases to arrive so I'm just working on sketches right now. I always wait too long to order them & then run out. Argh!

I don't usually watch Oprah but caught a bit of it today as she was talking about a new book called "Secrets of Simplicity" (see cover pic above). I've got to check it out! I'm always longing for the simpler days I grew up in when there wasn't all the fancy technology & life wasn't so hectic. The world is just moving too fast for me & I can't keep up! I feel sorry for my kids sometimes. Their schools push them so hard these days. I say let them be kids & play while they can! And homework should just be outlawed!!!

Well, enough ranting about that. Hope to have a new painting done soon. Stay tuned!