Friday Is My Favorite Day!

Do you know those movies where people dance around alone at home? Well, that's not just something they thought up for the movies. I'm the girl who, a few short hours ago, was dancing around dressed in my drinkin' pants (men's blue plaid pajama bottoms) and a tee-shirt to the cranked up (very loud) music of Jackson Browne. My tune of choice was a slightly obscure song called "I'm the Cat". It's good that I was home alone because I probably played the song twenty times - over and over and over:) Jim may like Jackson, but I think he would have have run screaming from the house. It just felt so good - dancing, singing along, and doing a little housework, too. Rosie and Briscoe are my best audience.

Jim has installed Windows 7 on our computer. I do not know how to do anything with photos now. Our old photo software is gone. I have a half-finished painting to post and I want to show you our patio, but I can't do anything until Jim has time to teach me how to use the new stuff he has installed or is installing.

Diana Strinati Baur (see my blog list - creative structures) has a very nice post on things that previous owners have done to her home. She shares my feelings on the subject and writes so eloquently about it. Our house is old by Las Vegas standards. We bought it in an estate sale. The original owners lived here almost 40 years. My big old love of a dog Teddy and I stumbled upon the house when we were walking one day. I peered in the windows and could see the possibilities. We made an appointment with a real estate agent, didn't even walk all the way through the house and made an offer on the spot.

The couple that had lived here left the house to a nephew. He took everything he thought was of value out of the house and put it up for sale. The house was full of good vibrations even though it was dirty and in a bit of disrepair. We got some of the house's story from the real estate agent and put together other pieces of the story as we cleaned and began moving in. Connie and George (the original owners) hadn't been able to keep up with things in their later years, but they stayed in the home that they loved up until the end. We have preserved some of the imprint they left on the house. For example, the door to the linen closet is at the end of the hall. It has a wallpaper scene of a Middle Eastern alley which has definite funk value. Also, the light fixture at the front door has the colors of the rainbow. I almost got rid of it, but Jim said no. Now I'm glad he did because I love it - more funk value.

In our shed, we found old maps on which Connie and George had marked the routes they took on vacations. There were some huge pots and pans. It turned out that Connie and George had owned an Italian restaurant here for many years. We found cards and a cake decoration for their 50th wedding anniversary. Connie and George had a good life here. Candy and Jim love it here.

Gratitude Friday - Lovely, Lovely Deb Harvey

I'm finally getting back to my blog. Hi, Everybody! Here is a photo of the print I won in Deb Harvey's drawing. My photo doesn't do this beautiful fox justice, so please pop over to Deb's blog to get a good look. Deb's timing was perfect. This really cheered me up!



Our patio cover was completed this week. Although we did the demolition ourselves, we weren't confident of our ability to install it, so we hired a contractor. It is beautiful! Photos to follow.

I have a sketch done for a new watercolor.

I finished reading Tim Russert's book, Big Russ and Me. (I had to use italics - I can't figure out how to underline.) I liked the memoir.

Yikes!

Well, I called in sick today. Thank goodness, I'm seldom sick. Today I just couldn't go in. I hate to miss school. I feel really sorry for the substitute who tries to figure out my lesson plans. I have a tendency to scribble notes over my plans as I go. I know I didn't scribble over anything for Wednesday, so, with any luck, the sub won't put a hex on me.

Good news! I received my beautiful print from Deb Harvey. I will post a photo this weekend. Deb does gorgeous work! Thank you, Deb. I love it!

I Was Going for Cheerful...

We've had two gorgeous, sunny days in a row. I was going for cheerful in this little watercolor. Hmmm... Is it cheerful, or is it...? Oh well, I've got plenty of paper and paint:)

Sun, Sun, Sun Here It Comes

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm posting a WIP flower for you. The sun was shining today in beautiful Las Vegas. In celebration, I had to start painting a sunflower.

We had a wonderful day today. I pruned the roses - a tad late, but I think it'll be ok. Jim weeded. We have 25 rose bushes, but I didn't have to prune all of them. Some of them were just planted last spring, so I won't trim them until next year.

I have found a wonderful author. Her name is Louise Penny. Jim and I went to the bookstore as our Valentine's Day present. I bought Still Life which is her first novel. I started reading it yesterday and I finished it today. I fell in love with her characters. I visited her blog. She seems to be just charming. If you're in the mood for a good mystery, check this book out. Tracey, I know you'll like it.

I also bought a biography of Alexander Hamilton. I'll let you know how I like it. (I may not get around to it right away. We made another trip to the bookstore and I bought another Louise Penny novel.)

Now that the sun is back, I'm anxious to see how our solar panels will do. I don't think we've gotten an accurate picture so far because of all the cloudy, rainy days we've had.




We're off tomorrow for Presidents' Day, so I'll finish the sunflower then.

Gratitude Friday

I'm grateful to have had Jack as a friend for the last 12 years.

Thank you, Deb Harvey, for picking me as the winner of your lovely print.

I'm grateful to have stumbled across Kablooey via Susan Abbott's blog. Check it out. You will laugh. I tried to post a link, but I couldn't get it to work. I'll see if I can get someone to show me what I'm doing wrong and I'll post it later.

I think that the last time I posted I was too lazy to even put paper on a board. I'm ready to paint now. I'm glad.

I'm grateful for the friends I have made through blogging. What kind, talented people!

I'm grateful that the sun was shining here today. I know that the rest of the country has been having wacko weather, too; but it's hard for me to believe that we have received one half of our annual rainfall already!

Saying Goodbye

We said goodbye to Jack on Friday. He and Jim were very close. He was Jim's stepdad since Jim was 9. He was our buddy. On Friday, we went over to his house to sit with him. He knew we were there and talked to us a little, but would drift off to sleep. We went home around 8:00 p.m. and got a call 45 minutes later. He had passed away. We went back over to wait for the hospice and mortuary people. As they wheeled him out the front door, the grandfather clock chimed 10 times. It seemed like something that would happen only in the movies. He was a very brave man. We're going to miss him like crazy.