Dream on a Moonbeam: GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY

Dream on a Moonbeam: GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY: A New "Residence" in My Apartment I have always loved pets....and have had a huge array of animals in the different homes I have li...

GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY

A New "Residence" in My Apartment

I have always loved pets....and have had a huge array of animals in the different homes I have lived in throughout my life. My youngest daughter, Lisabeth, was the "animal" kid...you know, the one who sees a bird laying in the grass and thinks she can save it if she brings it in and feeds it carrots or lettuce? Or the one who picks out the pregnant Guinea Pig or Rabbit at the pet store so we will have "babies"!!?

At one time we had a French Lob Rabbit, a Parrot (or was it a Parakeet?), 9 Guinea Pigs, a Rat, a Husky, and a Husky/Wolf mix dog. So, to be without ANY pet for the past 7 months has been pretty difficult. It was made more difficult when I sat next to a young couple on the plane when I went back to Alaska for Christmas. They had a cute little Toy Chawawa who didn't make a sound and who was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Then of course is the Sunday Seattle Times which always has a pet section with pictures and web sites to go to. If I had the money I would have had a Mini Australian Shepherd...what cuties!!! They only weight about 15 pounds when fully grown.

My restraint has been astonishing in the face of all these temptations, along with almost every household in my apartment complex having a dog. I see many of them when they are out walking with their owners and one of my favorites is a little fur ball of a dog who is always dirty but so adorable and her name is "LuLu". She is so friendly and almost acts starved for affection.

Introducing "Miss Molly".

Soooooo, it is no wonder that my need for "PET LOVE" got the better of me and I practically flew out of my apartment last Thursday, arriving at PetCo, determined to leave with a new "FRIEND"!!

Her name is "MISS MOLLY". She is a full American Guinea Pig and is just so adorable. She is very cuddly and I love her already. She adores having carrots, carrot tops, and chopped apples. I bring her out of her fancy cage (seen at the top of this blog....which, I might add, I put together all by myself), and we cuddle, she especially loves being under my chin and just squeeks so cute while I pet her. This morning I let her run around a little bit and most Guinea Pigs just sit there but not Miss Molly....she took off like she was on a mission!!

My Little "Cuddle Bug"!

I'm so glad to have this little addition to my life. She is really sweet.

I hope you have "Pet Love" in your life too.

Huggs, Janie

A VERY GOOD WEEK

I feel like I've had a good week, day, month if I get to spend time in my studio. I can't believe how difficult it is, even though I live alone, to get into the studio!!! I think I need to take my time in hand and make some changes....you know, make a schedule. I'm a list maker from way back so making a schedule shouldn't be too hard!!! Good Grief!!

So anyway as I said, I had a good week BECAUSE I got into the studio....

These are pretty small pieces - about 5x7". I am working on a big piece that seems to be developing nicely. My son took professional photos of all my work to date so I can put a portfolio together to take around to galleries to see if they will show my work. That job will be next on on my personal list. It just feels so great to be creating again.

All for today!!

Huggs, Janie

Do You Remember?

I read a blog recently that really struck a chord with me. I've lived long enough that some of the interesting things that have happened during my lifetime, to this point, are pretty funny and sometimes amazing.

I remember when young women wore girdles and stockings every day. To work, college, and any social gathering. Pantyhose made our life so much easier. Not long before that we wore stockings that hooked to our girdles with garters.

Most homes had one, centrally-located, black, table top phone. Everyone made and took calls at this one spot. There were party lines, where more than one family used the same telephone line. You could pick up the receiver and hear talking. I was a telephone operator in Southern Montana and the switchboard had plugs that I would plug in to attach lines to receive a call. I had to memorize the ring for each family. The ring would be one short and two longs or two longs and three shorts...etc. I wasn't supposed to listen in but I did quite a bit. This was pre-answering machine days and no voice mail either.

I remember having a milk truck that would deliver milk in glass bottles to our front door. There were zinc boxes to put the bottles in so they wouldn’t freeze. The tops of the milk bottles had crimped paper caps with the name of the dairy on a disk on the top. The disks became collectibles.



Milk Bottle Caps



I remember long hot nights with a rotary fan moving air around the room. No air conditioning. The fan’s cord was thick and had a woven cloth covering.



A Rotary Fan

 

I remember real ice boxes a big box on the back porch. A guy would come and drop 50-pounds of block ice into it, using huge tongs, and you would put food in to keep it from spoiling. OK, I barely remember it because it wasn't long after I was born that refrigerators became available.

I remember having a pump in the house that I had to pump water out of by hand. The water was used for cooking or filling up a large metal tub for me to take a bath in. There was no indoor plumbing, no toilet inside. So, of course, I remember using an outhouse every time I had to go to the bathroom. Many of my Alaska friends use them even today.

I remember pulling into a gas station and having a guy (always male) come out, wearing a coverall uniform and a hat, put gas in your car, wash your windshield, and check your oil. You paid for gas, but not for the other work. And no tipping.

I remember having to do the dishes every night after dinner. I had to wash the dishes by hand. I would wash, using a tub of hot soapy water, rinse by dipping  the dishes in a tub of clean, hot water, and then placing them on a towel beside the sink area. Another person (if I was lucky) would dry the dishes using linen towels with designs embroidered on them. Glasses, plates, knives and forks, and pans. We always used different towels for utensils.

I remember only have a radio, a huge radio console, in our living room. I would lay in front of it on the floor and listen to my favorite programs. We didn't get a television (black and white only and only one channel) until I was 12 years old.

I remember the first shuttle launch...and how almost impossible it was to imagine a man walking on the moon!

So in my life there have been many inventions and upgrades to those inventions. Why I didn't even start working on or even using a computer until I was in my 30s. Many people didn't even have electric typewriters for a very long time. I actually got my fastest time typing on a manual typewriter (90 wpm) when I was in school. I remember I got a job I really wanted because I knew how to use a new IBM Selectric typewriter. I remember that when I started working on computers that the only operating system we had was DOS. I remember when we didn't even use a mouse. WoW!! So many things.....

Do you remember things from your past like these things???

I hope your weekend is wonderful!!

Janie

The Artist Within

If you have read me very long, you know I'm into the arts, of all kinds. I love to draw, sew, do needlework, photography, almost anything creative....I love to do it.

It has been no secret that my most favorite thing of the recent past has been pen and ink abstract drawings. I haven't really been doing it much lately and have, in fact, been much more interested in sewing, and especially since my oldest daughter so generously gave me a brand new sewing machine for Christmas.

 
Yesterday I made a journey to a local fabric store which is more like a warehouse. It is delightful!!! I started looking at patterns and found the pattern I had been looking for and then started looking around for cotton fabric. There were stacks and stacks of cotton remnants as well as shelves and shelves of bolts of fabric. The stacks were $6.99/yard and the bolts were $9.99 and up/yard. I got some great pieces for the apron pattern!

 
I started looking around and found a table of remnents of drape and apolstery fabric. What a find!! Oh, for those of you who do not sew, a remnent is a piece of fabric from a 1/4 yard on up to several yards that the seller wants to move out of their inventory at a reduced price. Well, on the drape and apolstery table I found a couple of pieces that will make very interesting handbags.

So, on Facebook one of my dearest friends posted the following picture. I love it!!!! It really shows the difference between the right and left brain and how artists tend to see the world in a different way..

 

I had an art teacher in high school who told me that everyone has a little bit of artist in them, but that most are afraid to search it out. Most people say that "I can't draw a straight line"...well, I'm here to say that even artists use a ruler to DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE!!!

SO LET THE CREATIVITY BEGIN!!!

I hope you all find the artist within....

Janie

MOTHER NATURE INSPIRED?

I found some CDs with pictures on from back in 2005. I started looking at them and OH MY!! There were so many different pictures on them. I like to look at pictures from the Internet of the beauty around us...Nature....Good old MOTHER NATURE.

Perhaps that's why so many of my Zentangles are about nature.

 

I think it's fun to go back and look at what I've done in the past and to look at my nature photos and see how they might influence my future Zentangles.





I hope that you have had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!
Janie

Dream on a Moonbeam: 12 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR OWN HAPPINESS

Dream on a Moonbeam: 12 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR OWN HAPPINESS: Close-up of Valentine Flowers from My Love I�ve been on an exploration to find much needed changes in my life for most of the p...