My, How Time Passes Away

It sure has been a while since I posted!! I swore to myself that I would not let time elapse between posts and here I've done exactly what I said I wouldn't do!! UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!

OK, I *HAVE/AM* been busy....having a very huge garage sale...two consecutive weekends, three days the first weekend and two days the second weekend....but I'm also trying to get ready to participate in an outdoor evening Bazaar on the 23rd and am also having another art showing on August 5th of my "fine" art....better known as Zentangle Art. I'm thinking that I need to come up with a better name for it because the term zentangle is very limiting and I do so much more than that. I just finished a huge butterfly done in white ink and dark blue Gelly Roll glitter pen on black paper. It will be the centerpiece of my show on the 5th of August, I think. The more I look at it the more I want to do to it but maybe it is better left alone...but a little shading here and there.... Well, if you are an artist you know what I'm talking about. LOL

I have been working a lot more on black paper although I did a piece on apricot colored paper and will put a picture of that up soon. I like black paper with the white ink but most of the white ink pens just do not work right. Also, the really good black art paper usually comes with a rougher texture like canvas looking paper. It is interesting to look at and nice (well, most of the time) but it is very hard to work on.

Anyway, I'll try to "not be a stranger" from now on....

Enjoy!

Janie

OK, here are a couple of other pictures too....

Butterfly in white on black paper with dark blue glitter pen.

Supposed to be apricot-colored paper with black ink...sorry about the photography.

My newest lady...black pen on white with light pink highlights on lips, cheeks, and selected areas in the tangles.

It finally Stopped Raining

I went out to ferry my husband's truck from one spot to another so he could try out his newest canoe. I always take my camera with me so took a few shots by the river and of him in his new "toy".

I also got this great photo of my husband holding Gracie on the couch. I love it when I see how affectionate she is. We are really lucky to have such a loving and intuitive dog. When I get upset she has to be right there beside me, licking me, and putting her paw on my arm. 

The last photo of the day is this wonderful bowl of red raspberries floating in 1/2 and 1/2. It is my very favorite thing to have breakfast, lunch and dinner!!!! 

OK, I lied. It wasn't the last photo. I'm working on some bookmarks for the winter bazaars. Happy Zentangling!!!

Huggs,

Janie

Bitching and Whining

It is evening, although you would not know it by looking outside...that's what summer is like in our neck of the woods. And there is soft classical music playing on the iPod, our Gracie is sacked out for the evening, having had her "dessert....licking our ice cream dishes" and my Love and I are doing our "computer thing". I am so thankful for the times that I have where all feels right with the world, and yet it still brings tears to my eyes. I wonder why? Well, it could be because I am having pain again after a couple of weeks with almost none...and this has me worried. Will I ever again be without pain like I was? Wow, I was doing all those things that we take for granted that we can do forever...like clean house, do laundry, go places, do things...and then WHAM! I woke up on Wednesday morning with such bad pain in both legs and my back and ever since then have been struggling. Emotionally, it is devastating. Physically, it is aggravating beyond words! 

Here I was thinking that I could behave like everyone else in my world...plan ahead to do things, be excited about getting up in the morning, you know.....NORMAL THINGS. 

Life has a way of humbling us...and the way I feel now I should be the most humble person in the world. Instead, I feel angry and sad all at the same time. I have things to do, places to go, and plans to make. This is not fair!!

Wow, how many times in my life have I said those words! Well, my friend, life is not fair...it is what it is. It is magical at moments and I have had those. It is wonderfully painful...as in falling in love....and I have had those. It is fulfilling at times, and I have had those. It is joyful, as it was when I held my new babies in my arms. It has  been miraculous and beautiful and awful and full of dreams coming true and full of disappointments....Life everyone just like everyone else has. 

I guess because I am in the last quarter of my life I think all the pain and disappointment should be over with. That I should be able to do and plan what I want without any road blocks. It just ain't happening! 

So, I have to figure out what the next step is....and boy do I hate going backwards!!! Now I have to sit back and wait for the pain to go away, wait for the doctor to do something different or something more, figure out how to not worry about what might be or what could have been, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. The worst part of all this has always been how it affects others, especially my loved ones, who feel helpless. It also affects my ability to be creative. I don't like those things in the least. In fact, it tears me up inside that I can't change things that I cannot change!!! At this rate I'll live into my 100s because I just don't get it....and worse of all, I don't want to. 

I have put these pretty flowers on my blog because [1.] They are purple, and that's my favorite color and [2.] Flowers are like life. We start out as a seed, become a bud, then a small blossom, then full bloom and slowly wilt....but along the way we need lots of sunshine (Love) and water (Nurturing). It is the natural cycle. But unlike my beautiful flowers, I am going kicking and screaming into my "golden years". (Who the hell came up with that phrase??) 

I DO hope you and your loved ones will be safe and well during this July 4th weekend. And be thankful for the freedoms that we have and continue to vote to keep the freedoms from being taken away from us so we can grow old...and leave a wonderful world for the younger generations coming up. And to my Love, thank You for "Growing Old with me because the BEST is yet to be."

Huggs,

Janie