Playtime...

I love the Studio Friday website! For years I stopped being creative and let my artistic abilities fade away, I guess. When I accidently discovered the site and finally mustered up the courage to join in, I haven't stopped having fun. Taking pictures again, for pleasure instead of work has been a lot of fun too.

This is my attempt at "mouth" drawing. : ) This is supposed to be my favorite flower, the Stargazer Lily (4) and one dandelion. It was really fun doing this. I actually have practiced this way of drawing in a class I took a long time ago. It was hard to navigate the pen where I wanted it to go. I was making quick lines, mostly in the upward direction with my glitter-gel pens. Scribbling inside the flowers for color was the hardest part! The picture isn't the best, I need a new camera. The flowers are pink with black dots in them. The dandelion is a nice bright yellow and the flower stems are a glitter green. I'm sorry it's hard to see.

I see buds!

I finally got a chance to take a picture of my back yard trees with their buds coming out. Can you see 'em? The days are getting warmer all the time and no more snow in sight. It's nice sitting out on the porch in the morning with a cup of coffee and the paper and seeing neighbors going off to work before I have to get my butt in gear and head out. I'm so glad summer is here. :)

Downloading programs can be a pain.

Okay, so I screwed up my computer AGAIN! I've been off line now for four days and it's been making me crazy. I downloaded a trial version of Zone Alarm Security Suite (which has excellent features) and it shut something off that is needed for my computer to get online. Well, anyway, the program didn't completely install. It went to a certain point and a little box popped up informing me the program couldn't shut off TruVector (whatever that is) and I would have to shut it off manually. I searched all through the Windows book and any information the computer had-couldn't find it. Since I couldn't get online I had no idea what to do so I just decided not to install it. So for three days I just left the computer alone. Today, I got back on and tried reinstalling it and clicked a 'no' box when I previously clicked a 'yes' (to a question having to do with installation) box and it worked. It installed and I got back online. What a relief.

After all that drama, I had to eventually uninstall Zone Alarm because it kept making pages open too slowly and caused a lot of blue screens and constant, constant crunching/loading sounds that prevented me from doing anything until it all finished. The computer is now back to it's lightning speed and I have a bit of sanity back. Bliss :)

Great find...

Today, a co-worker and I went to an estate sale. We drove for about two-and-a-half hours to get there. The weather was so nice and sunny and warm. Anyway, when we got there we looked around at all the beautiful antiques and furnishings and there were some very pricey items that were way out of our price ranges. I ended up with this beautiful pair of Geisha vases. They are about 14 inches tall and have a blue background with gold trim on the handles that really sparkles in the sunlight. The painting is so detailed and the colors are very vibrant, for being as old as they are. I don't know the exact age but I think they're gorgeous. One of the vases has two small flaws on it but they're barely noticable.

Oh, and I also found this little "two peas in a pod" plush toy (from Avon) at a yard sale on the way home and immediately thought of the famous website. I had to take a picture of the peas beside my little bucket. It's my little homage to Two Peas in a Bucket. They are so cute aren't they? :)


Well, that was my day. I'm home now and trying to get some exercise before going back to work tomorrow. I just had to show off my treasures.

My View

This is the view I see when I pull back the curtain in my studio, which is actually my dining room/office. I look out onto the street. It's a convenient street to live on. The brick building to the right is a hospital. To the left (out of view) is the intersection which leads to Main Street, which branches off to the local town pool, church, gas station, movie rental building and a couple convenience stores. I'm hoping to move by this fall. I've lived here with my son for 14 years. It was a good location for him when he was in school.

The snow has finally melted and there are some green sprigs of grass peeking through. The view will be really nice soon. The tree will be in bloom and there are flowers planted around the porch. It's overcast today unfortunately. Everything looks a little bland and gray.

Painful memory

Today is the second anniversary of my son's car accident. He and his best friend went to a party, drank, and then got into a car and drove 20 minutes away to another party where they consumed more alcohol. Then they took off in a car with my son driving.  It wasn't long afterwards that they were involved in a high-speed accident
in which they hit a tree. My son vaguely remembers blue lights flashing behind them, but the police report 'shows' no evidence of a police officer being involved.  Not a nice thought.

First Timer

This is a little bit of comfort to me. It could possibly be considered for Comfort and Secret Stash, I suppose. When my mother passed away last March, my sister and I had to sort through her belongings and pack them for storage, which was very hard. In the process, we kept coming across envelopes, old telephone bills, letters etc., that had mom's lipstick blots on them. When we were younger, I remember when Mom used to put on her lipstick she would blot it on a napkin or tissue to take off the shine. Sometimes she would grab an envelope before going out the door or me if I was handy and kiss my cheek. Anyway, as I came across them, I put them in a separate box to keep for myself. I cut some of them out and laminated them for a scrapbook page that I am in the process of putting together right now.

Also, when I was using dial-up, I was a Callwave user so that I wouldn't miss calls when I was online. As I was listening to old messages one night before uninstalling the feature I came across messages from Mom. Some of them very short "Hi Pam, just wondering what you are doing. Love you, Mom," "Hi Pam, I'll be home in a little while. Come on up. Love ya, Mom," "Hi Pam, bring Jamison (my son) and come up for supper. Love, Mom." As I sat and listened to them, I wanted to find a way to preserve them. There was no way I could delete them from my computer. So a friend of mine showed me how to convert the messages to files that I could burn onto a CD (bless his heart.) I can't listen to them very often but I know they're there when I'm having one of those days.

I apologize for the blurry quality of the photo. It shows the blots that I cut out and laminated, one still on an old photo developing envelope and the CD with the messages. They give me comfort when I'm feeling lonely for her. I really miss our talks. So, thank you for giving me a place to share a bit of her memory.