The candle glows

It's Helen's Haiku Hump Day and since I'm home today I will give it a try. I had a candle burning, something I usually do and decided to do my Haiku for this Wednesday.  After I lit the candle, I stared at it and remembered how my eldest son used to say, "Ma, you always light candles."

Last Wednesday was missed, so here it is.

I lit the candle

Memories flooded my mind

Can you see me, son



Take care, enjoy the day.

LITTLE FRIDAS/NIGHT AND DAY

Hi there. I've had a little time to do a little painting, so I thought I'd share it with you. Life has been hectic. All is fine at home but there are other things to tend to that are requiring most of my time away from home. Hope everyone is doing good. and I do have a post for Friday's PPF with the continuation of MVG.

Right now though,here are these two little ladies who seem to be wanting a little attention. They are different from each other and so they are being called:

LITTLE FRIDAS/NIGHT AND DAY

They are done on canvas with acrylics, Shiva crayons,  and Pitt pens. I am hooked on Pitt pens and now Shiva oil paints that I have started using. I love the way the Shiva just glides on.

Just a short post to let you all know that life is great and I sure do miss blogging every day. See you on Friday for PPF. I still have to visit last weeks PPF. If there is time tonight, I will start visiting a few at a time.

I've started watching Heat Seekers on Food Network at 8pm PST on Monday,  and find it just so funny. The two hosts go to different restaurants in different states and look for places that have very hot chili. They compete against each other to see who can eat the hottest chili.

The other show I discovered and love is American Pickers. The two (also) hosts are out finding vintage items in different states. They travel all over and dig through tons of items at different peoples homes. It's a lot of fun because they are a likable pair as are the two heat seekers.

I'm going now and since I'm home today I have to spend sweet time with my hubby. We had dinner a little ago and he's out feeding the chickens and when he comes in, we'll relax and watch the tv'ers. Speaking of chickens, I made good old homemade chicken soup. We had simple crackers with it and a glass of milk.

 Take care everyone who pops by. I really appreciate your bloggy friendship.

Time to sign off for a little while

Came back to add this because I am getting lots of emails that people think I've left. No I am still here, but not really here but elsewhere for a while. Right now things are a little rough and have to tend to duties out of town. I will be back. I've turned my blog back on.

bye bye for now

:DD Take care.

Be back soon.

Paint Party Friday

HAPPY PAINT FRIDAY  #49 every one.

Thx. Eva and Kristin for hosting. If you get a chance stop by their blog to view other works. Continuing with: Mission Van Gogh


Here to the left is the Master's wonderful piece and then mine. I was finding that he was really using a lot of paint on his canvas. It looks like he kept adding and adding to the lines to bring it out more and a fine job he did. Acrylics is always my choice. Oils give me problems. In my mind the idea of re-painting the 12 to see how they would come out a second time sounded like a challenge, but my instincts said no. Here is my finished result.

Instead of my next project being another master's work, I have decided to paint my Little Ladies of The Garden or Little Mexican Ladies of The Kitchen individually on canvas. These are the ladies here. I will re-paint each separately on canvas.

So there you go, my PPF submission. I'll see you at your blogs and thanks for stopping by and for all the comments you always leave. They are always appreciated. Happy PPF!

The Winner Is......

.....Hello everyone. A quick post to congratulate the winner of the Vincent van Gogh tote bag. When it came right down to it, I couldn't  get the generator on my blog to show the number selected, so I had to have my husband pick out of the hat and he did. I wish there could be more than one winner but you know how it goes. None the less, you are all WINNERS in my book.

Congratulations to Judie from Sans Souci Place who is the winner of the tote. Thanks everyone for playing.

 Lets clap our hands for Judie.
Yay::clap::clap::

Judie, please email me your address and I will get the tote out to you asap.

Haiku Hump Day

It's that time....Haiku HuMp DaY at Helen's. If you get a chance, stop by her blog and join the fun.

I titled this photo:

MORNING FIRE

I was looking east
My heart racing with what seemed
to be cries of joy


It really was a beautiful sunrise a few days back.

Tax time and an outing

Don't forget to join the giveaway. End tomorrow at the end of the day. Winner will be announced the 15th.======>

Today was THAT day. Yes that day that happens every year for us and of course you. We did our taxes. We're fine, we don't owe and knock on wood, that is the way it's been for years. Well I take that back, we did pay some capital gains tax when we sold our home in San Jose a  couple of years ago. So today husband was off work and we took care of that business, and then drove to Manteca to look around and decided to go have lunch. I said Mexican and he looked up Mexican restaurants on his GPS and it gave us a load of names. There was one on the street we were on and so we decided to check it out.

It was called Las Casuelas and it proved to be a fun outing. The food was great. We both had Chimichangas and coffee,  and of course didn't think to take a picture of the food but did take some of the interior as we were headed out. The salad was great. They did a guacamole and placed it and sour cream over the salad. It was great.

Then we headed out to this place in Escalon where they have tons of "casuelas" or pottery. I always thought casuelas was spelled cazuelas. Hmmm. I'll have to look that up. In any event we stopped there because there were some additions needed for my Talavera set of dishes. So here's a few pix of the inside of the store and of what we  bought at Lopez Imports .

Dining room set and other items like cupboards, cabinets. Lots of things.

Goodies galore

Then the dishes I bought

Awesome cups. I've almost completed the set.

So now it's the end of the day and painting is in order. Will be having a cup of tea in these new cups. Hey, sunflowers too. One of Vincent's favorite.

Have a great Tuesday. I'll be off until Friday. Lots to do like reading, painting, deciding on what color to paint the dining area this spring, seeds to put in greenhouse and life is beautiful. <------My word for the year. I use it every day.

Paint Party Friday-Mission Van Gogh # 6

Don't forget to join my giveaway. Please click----->
the tote bag to go to the post and enter the giveaway. Not many have entered. Enter, enter, enter.


PAINT PARTY FRIDAY # 48 and of course welcome. Thanks Eva and Kristin, always a pleasure. Please stop by their PPF to view other participants. I'm posting early because lots of other things are going on. Busy as a bumble bee you might say and doing a lot of thinking as well. 

The continuation of Mission Van Gogh (MVG) continues with Number 6. I strayed a little from his original and added dried sunflower petals that I had. What can I say, twas fun.

The Master himself

stage 1

stage 2

stage 2

stage 3

This is what I ended up with. I added the sunflower petals.

Hope you like it.

MISSION VAN GOGH #6

HAPPY PAINT FRIDAY TO ALL, ENJOY THE WEEKEND. I'LL SEE YOU AT YOUR BLOGS. DID YOU HEAR THAT GOOGLE IS REMOVING THE FOLLOWER'S WIDGET? THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING FROM A FEW BLOGS. BUMMER.

Scrumtrulescent by John-paul Fillion

Congratulations to John who won Your Favorite Food contest over at my Fine Art America website. He won a spot on  one of my posts and this is a lot of fun to do.  These candied apples look delicious enough to eat. As you can see, prints are available at his website at FAA. Just click on the pic and it should take you there so you can view his awesome work.

My fellow bloggers, I just wanted to share this with you. You know me, always wanting to put the spotlight on someone, besides my self. Tee Hee. Enjoy the candied apples and this post will stay here for the day.

In other words Mr. John-paul Fillion has the spotlight for today.

Congratulations John, thanks for playing.

Scrumtrulescent



Chili today, hot tamale

First thing on the agenda is a reminder for you to join my giveaway that I have posted on my sidebar. You have to enter to win, and so far there are not many that have entered. Check out the sidebar where the tote is at and click to go to the post and enter. Thanks.------->

So it's sunny Wednesday, which means it's time to go outside and see what needs to be cleaned. We had a windy past couple of days so it's clean-up time. 

Just wanted to share this chili I ordered from this place:

Hatch Chili Express  in Hatch, New Mexico. After speaking to them on the phone, I got to know them as "the farmer, and the farmer's wife." Nice sounding people who work the farm as well as the store.

So my order was of dried red hot hatch chili powder that you now see in jars.....

...and this great "untreated" Ristra. When chili's are needed, you just take from the Ristra, wash, and use. This Ristra has not been treated with chemicals so it is edible. They do sell the ones that are treated and most peoples hangs them outside. It's a beautiful batch of magnificent color. It's hanging in my pantry right now.

So it's pure red chili powder, extra hot and very good. I tried it on some mole made for Super Bowl and it was outstanding. The more chili you add, the hotter it is. Really lifts the spirits and gets those juices flowing. Awesome!!

 I'm sure it will be great for all moles, tamales, menudo, plain chili sauce. 

I've been busy photographing the 12 Vincent's  for uploading to my FAA. I don't want to upload all of them until I've shared them on PPF and with everyone. I have a contest going on at Fine Art America (FAA) called: Your Favorite Food. The entrants uploaded their pictures/paintings of what their best food is. The winner will spend a day's post on my blog with a link to their site at FAA and a picture of their work. Second place winner gets a "standing ovation," and third place gets "a thumbs up." tee hee. So far 107 members have played, they've uploaded 218 pieces and there are 123 votes in so far and voting is over tomorrow. It's all done automatic, so I don't have to do anything. It's all in fun.

Have a great rest of the day and remember that I think of you as my blog friends. Take care and be well.

Haiku HuMp DaY-Lady In Red

(Don't forget to enter my giveaway on the sidebar, click on tote)




Happy Haiku HuMp DaY

Stop by and join Helen in her Wednesday fun.

Lady In Red (gv)

Book on knee, drink waits

Dress the color of her lips

Umbrella shaded

Time For A Giveaway

This giveaway will start as soon as I'm done posting this. There are no rules or guidelines, other than to let your bloggie friends know about the giveaway. Just stop by and say you want to enter the giveaway. 

The giveaway ends at the end of the day 11:59 PM February 14Th.,  and the winner will be announced on February 15Th. at noon. I will be posting a link to this post AFTER TODAY, on my sidebar where the tote is pictured.Just click on the tote back/sidebar,  and it will take you to the post so that you could enter. I need to do this in order to do my other posts. I also need to figure out how to link it, tee hee. Don't worry, I'll do it. 

It is a tote bag with Van Gogh's bedroom. The description is noted below.

Vincent van Gogh's iconic "Bedroom in Arles" is the centerpiece of this beautiful, durable tote that displays a copy of the C&T Publishing slice quilt that was auctioned at Art Materials World 2011. Sponsored by the International Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA), Art Materials World is the only conference and trade event dedicated exclusively to fine art materials.

The Any Way You Slice It Tote is made from recycled plastic water bottles and features reinforced stitching, a heavy-duty zipper, a shoulder-length strap, and a reinforced bottom panel that allows the bag to stand upright.

A portion of every sale is being donated to the NAMTA Foundation, which supports art education and the fine arts through scholarships and grants.

(this info from Blick)

Time to be nice

Today was taking care of business day. Didn't take long. Going to the bank, credit union, CVS, post office and then got hungry. Previously promising myself that I wouldn't eat fast food,  but it, the big yellow arch was staring me in the face.

Oh please I begged myself, don't go there. I was thinking to go home and make a sandwich and drink some tea and my car was heading in the driveway where other cars were in line waiting to buy their lunch.  So this was the deal, after talking myself into driving through this one last time time, I patted myself on the back and thought this treat had been earned.

This is what I ordered:

Fillet of fish

French Fries

STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE (By now I didn't care, I just wanted to eat and drink milkshake and not feel guilty)

 After parking I started to make notes of the business that had been taken care of before forgetfulness set in. Too busy doing my thing I failed to see the man in front of my car. As I looked up and saw him rummaging the MacDonald's trash can for food. He was old, skinny, and downright sad looking, as well as dirty. My mind just went crazy thinking of all the hungry people. Guilt set in as he pulled out a bag of leftover fries.  Oh well I thought, who needs more calories. Grabbing the bag and shake, I called him and handed over the bag and shake to him.

 

He was so apologetic. He said he didn't mean for me to give him my lunch and no it was okay. Insisting he take the bag, again he apologized and looked me straight in the eyes and said, "thank you very much lady." After getting in the car, I waved at him and went on my way and felt a better person for giving that man something to eat.

Paying it forward, so to speak.
Have a great weekend

Paint Party Friday-Mission Van Gogh # 5

 HAPPY PAINT FRIDAY # 47

As always we thank Eva and Kristin for their hospitality in hosting this learning experience blog. Thank you. Please stop by PPF,  and enjoy all the wonderful work by the artists who participate, including Eva and Kristin.

So the continuation of Mission Van Gogh goes on with this next piece. In doing so, my mind was on what Vincent's thoughts were of as he looked in the mirror and painted himself.  One begins to wonder how deep the mind can go when one is looking in the mirror and trying to paint oneself.

The point  has been reached where I can call this man Vincent, and not Mr. Van Gogh or Van Gogh. He is definitely now a friend of mine.

As this painting was being painted, a voice kept saying "you can't paint," and the more I heard that voice, the more I tried. 

Then I remembered a Vincent quote that I  previously read. He said: 

"If you hear a voice with you say, you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

So I continued, trying my best, and for a while the voice was silenced. At least until the number 6 was started. Tee Hee. So here on the left is of course the man's beautiful (my word for the year) portrait and then Gloria's attempt.

This is Mission Van Gogh #5

Acrylics, pens, watercolor, some pastel, crayons

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Take care and PPF is so much fun.

Artists In Blogland

I am linking this to:

Artists In Blogland


Thanks for hosting Marcia. Stop by and visit other participants.

This is my latest painting in the ala Frida style. The reason it was titled as such, is because Frida must have had to wait in line for her

 "white wings" as most must do. Actually I couldn't think of a title. Since I painted her wings brown/tan instead of white, that was the only reasoning behind the title.

Awaiting My White Wings

This painting is at my Fine Art America website, noted on my sidebar and ready to go to someones home.

HuMp DaY Haiku-Flowers

    Happy HuMp DaY Haiku   

FLOWERS IN A BOWL.


Bright orange some pink
A lot of blue on canvas
Brings peace to my mind.

A little late today, but I made it.
Don't forget to click on the link above and join in the fun of doing a Haiku. Have a great rest of the week.