2 Days under the wrath of a Nor'easter an' it feels like we can venture outside now an' not feel like we'll end up somewhere over in the Dismal Swamp ~~ This storm has been everything it was promoted to be ~~ lottsa wind -- rain, rain an' more rain -- but it was difficult to decide which direction it was coming from...what with winds over 40 mph, the wind was comin' from Everywhere. THANK HEAVENS -- it's slowin' down now...shwwoooo...

It's also the day before Thanksgiving -- Fortunately the groceries have ben taken care of...last year w/no income it was not an especially joyful day..somber at best. But now that The Husband is gainfully employed an' enjoying it..we are able to get the lil' goodies we couldn't buy last year. Even found a good turkey for not too high a price...wow...but it still rankles when I think that some guy is raising these birds an' probably isn't gettin' didly squat for the things...sigh...BUT - it is fun to go in and look at the grocery shelves with all the trimmings for the traditional holiday here in the U.S. -- Thought about getting fresh cranberry's, but couldn't decide if the time to make the sauce would be worth the effort...plus, the recipe I had from New England has somehow dissapeared...without a doubt I'll find it when I want to make a lemon pie for 4th of July ...never fails. Or like the year before last -- couldn't find the pumpkin pie receipe I wanted, an' somewhere around Labor Day it make it's appearance. "OH! Look! Here's just the thing I need!!" ~~ I swanny ~~ I figure anymore thatI deserve all the grey hairs I've got on me little head..

The Art stuff is still goin' strong...I'm waiting for the middle son to get thru with whatever it is he's making noise about....sounds like a drum machine...a guitar slightly out of tune...an' something like...uhmmm.... oh blast....I have No Idea What -- SOMETHING!! ~~ He'll be done soon...I think...

An' while thinking back on getting receipes ~~ I had a thot of making something from one of my old cookbooks ~~ Maybe a little different kinda thing. Looked at Aspic (sp) receipe's...I've no idea of what it is...but the author of the book said up & down that they were quite good, an' would make any guest jus' feel at home. What kind of home, I've no clue, as just the name of the thing..or stuff...sorta/kinda freaked me out. Turning the page didn't help much, as there were more odd things...Finally I started to look at some other kind of pies...Mincemeat looked interesting...found an old one that required using some kind of lean meat...lamb or something. That automatically put that idea out the window...price of lamb is more than gettin' some gas put in The Very Fine Car, so that page got turned, too. Flipped thru some more pages an' thot about baking a cake..but then realized I've never made a 2-layer cake in my entire life, an' the image of me tryin' to frost all this mess...I mean, I could see pieces of the cake fallin' off the side an' top of what I jus' got out of the oven...stickin' to the knife with all the frosting blobbed on...uhh...yeah, that page got turned too...

But I've still got the instant-made-frozen pie shells sittin' in the freezer, an' since the guys like havin' those, slathered with some whipped cream, well, why mess with somethin' else that may create a moment of bedlam in the kitchen? It'd be like if The Husband said he was gonna whip up a batch of cookies with chocolate (oh blast, that doesn't look like it's spelled right...) pieces...Visions of goo all over the kitchen flash everywhere...

Anyway -- Things will quiet down after the meal is over with...everybody will be sleeping an' the television will be blasting to no one in particular, about who knows what. The Dog will be laying smack dab in the middle of front room, no doubt right where I'll be walking by. I SHALL NOT FALL OVER HER!!!

Lady of The Tulips ~~ who's distracted now 'cause the youngest jus' walked in the house, an' is askin' a gazillion questions...an' now fighting with his older brother.....ahh...siblings...

~~~ By the calender it's suppossed to be Fall -- the time of year when daily tempertures drop an' the leaves on tree's turn into fabulous colors. Well ~~ The leaves are up to their end of the deal, but the temperatures aren't considering the calender at all. As of jus' a few minutes ago, the thermometer was readin' 64 degrees....an' it's not quite 11:15 in the morning! I'm tryin' to make myself feel like it's Fall -- wearin' a nice flannel shirt -- but all the dayum shirt is makin' me do is melt...over heat....feel like I'm in a sauna....ya'll get the idea....So when is the temperature gonna do it's change to Fall!?? I strongly believe at times like this that it was a good thing I didn't consider being a Weather Person...I'd be ranting at the computer models that say the weather isn't cooling down...an' it's gonna be unseasonabily warm for the next 10 dayz.....sheesh...

~~ Anyway -- one of the upcoming dayz my middle son sez he WILL be helpin'me get some of my pictures on this here now lil' Blog - he has to get some THANG to transfer pictures from the digital camera an' upload (or is it download?) them onto this place...I'm excited but also sorta nervous...settin' my self an' my art out for the world to see is somewhat freightening..but then since this is what I do -- create Art that tells a story...conveys a feeling...then the only reasonable thing to do is let the world see an' tell --- or is it Show & Tell? the latter, I think. I want to let others see that I want to share my sense of Fun - of Color - an' see that I don't want to consider myself jus' TOO serious when makin' my creations...One thing that grates on my nerves are those that sey.."We Ohhnly Consider SERIOUS Ahhhrrrttt..." Blah. Art is to be enjoyed, not made to make people feel like crawlinginto a hole and hiding the rest of their life. Make Art something to Enjoy -- Make colors that create positive feelings....Create something to put a smile on your face, not make you weep because it sweeps your emotions along into a tide of misery. The Fun is what I do. And hopefully within a couple dayz everybody can see an' express what they feel about my work.

The small things around here are pretty much the same...Dog is sleepin' on the couch in the Studio an' at last look...make that the last sound I heard was her snoring....nothing is more irritating than when she gets her snore going...I'll be painting some piece of watercolor paper, or stamping some fish thing...then I hear this NOISE ~~ an' realize it's THE DOG SNORING!!! LAWDY!! Doesn't do any good to wake her up an sey "Will you Knock that Off!!" 'cause she jus' rolls over an' starts in all over again (Sorta like The Husband...) an' sometimes starts snoring LOUDER...I'll try to concentrate on what I'm doing, but it gets a little nerve racking hearing all this noise from the couch...

The other little thing that seems to be ongoing an' a problem is the Very Fine Car - it isn't living up to its end of the bargain by being a Good Car...yesterday it started in on it's Stalling Out in Traffic During Rush Hour ~~ The Husband was driving the thing for a change when it started this bit...I honestly believe he's been thinking I've been making up this story of the car being Pesty..But by the 4th time the car was sputtering...coughing...making Strange noises under the hood..then he realized the Very Fine Car has some kind of Problem. I've taken it to the mechanic, who promptly said "There's nothing wrong with it..." an' shooed me outta the garage....hmmmph.....I've tried to get another mechanic to look at it but so far it seems a person needs to make appintments for automotive mechanics like they do with a Doctor...3 Weeks in advance an' make sure you have a minimum of $100 before any diagnosis (sp) is made. I'm not one to figure out what a car DOES...'cept to put the key in the ignition, crank it up an' drive down the road...when these Mechanics ask "Well what is it doing?" What it's doing is Making Me Furious!! Having a car stall out during rush hour traffic is not one of the things I've agreed to during my time here on Earth..no contract was ever presented to me with this agreement in writing for me to say "Sure!!" Let's have a car stall out while all the people behind me are screaming at me to get the F"}%+@ outta the WAY!!

Jus' a little thing, mind you...but seems to be something to Learn To Deal With...Nobody told me this was part of living in the Big City..so I'm wonderin' who set this up -- knowing my nerves would be RATTLED....The Husband naturally starts to RANT at me when I simply ask "What's that light on the dash mean, Check Engine?" ~~ Little Thing ~~ When I'd much rather be looking at new Art papers...watercolor pencils...very fine paint brushes...That's what I'd rather be spending my time doing...not the Little Thing of a car deciding to be a $#}%_2 an' making people ANGRY!!

~~ Well ~~ My lil' eyes see that it's time to meander over to one of those local lil' Dollar places an' pick up some necessary items...boring ...boring...boring...But everybody knows that the minute you need to brush your teeth an' realize THERE'S NO TOOTHPASTE!!! -- well...the boring-ness of buying these THANGS comes right back to slap ya right across the face....Necessary Evils, I think my mother would mumble . Besides - I also have to see if the Dog has moved off the couch, so I can spray the cushions with flea spray...That always gets the beast to move...an' move FAST!!

Lady of The Tulips -- who should have thot of using the flea spray some dayz ago to make the dog hop off the couch when she wanted to sit down an' rest....sigh...

~~ The seasonal change is makin' the tree out in our front yard a fabulous Red/Orange/Brown combination of colors that almost looks like its movin' an' dancin' -- the sudden cold temps an' the right amount of rain jus' before the temperature change has really made it look wonderful. In the few years we've lived here, that tree has never looked so good.

The other thing that is soooo cool 'bout this time of year, is all the migrating birds that fly over the lake an' make up their group mind about where to land for rest -- the other day I was reading some info online, when I started to hear all this weird noise outside. First I thot it was the little boy across the street playin' with one of his toy horns...but then I realized it was a school day..sorta rainy an' nobody was outside. I quick-like hopped up to look out the window in the middle bedroom an' realized the sound was from a flock of LARGE birds...not the geese we usually have...but a flock of LOONS!! We've been here over 5 years an' this is the first I've heard an' seen these fabulous birds!! They were circling the water lookin' for a place to land...very gracefully they decended onto the water....it jus' took my breath away. They were so wonderful...An' I'd say they are much happier here where it's jus' over 50 degrees than where they must have flown in from. Don't know where they'll fly from here, but what a joy to see that flock of birds....wow...

Found a lil' place up in the mountains that I've been researchin' an checkin' out for the past few months..actually more like the last year or more. Since The Husband & I never had our anniversary thang this year, I thot it'd be a nice idea to go visit the mountains..right in the middle of the Blue Ridge mind you...an' have a nice quiet weekend. Uhhmmm --- les' jus' say that THAT idea went over like a kick in the stomach.. "I mean! ~~ it's cold up there now! You wanna go up there when??" -- So much for the quiet romantic weekend in the woods....sheesh...

But I did find some fabulous gallerys an' shops an' STUFF that have got my curiosity (Oh shush,,,that's spelled wrong so DEAL! with it..) -- Seems like maybe the time is right for explorin' the place an' seein' jus' what is WHAT!! The Very Fine Automobile is running pretty decent at the moment, so after havin' the mechanic I use get it a once-over...looks like I'll try to make the trip to the Blue Ridge....Besides..the fall colors should still be fairly good, so what more can ya ask for?

Lady of The Tulips -- who is considering jus' what thrift store to hit for buyin' sweaters an' stuff for the cold weather...summer t-shirts jus' aint gettin' it, ya know??