Not what I wanted

A few days ago, I posted some painted canvases at their beginning stages. I worked on one and it morphed into something I now classify as a "lessons" painting.

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Before painting with blue tape masking areas

Cosmic Blossom

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After

I'm not that thrilled over the transformation, but I learned a lot and see it as teaching me several valuable lessons about what works, how it works and why. It's a bit overcrowded and some of the red in the upper left corner needs to be on the right somewhere to balance it.  But I'm OK with that and look forward to growing with the next painting.

From Carl King's blog.......

I was recently sent a copy of a post by Carl King, a creative guy living in Los Angeles. I found it fascinating because it has a lot of insight and I see my daughter, my husband and lately, more of me in this description.  I am interested in any feedback from my readers!

          From Carl King's blog:                                      

I was lucky enough to discover a book called, The Introvert Advantage (How To Thrive in an Extrovert World), by Marti Laney, Psy.D. I feel like someone has written an encyclopedia entry on a rare race of people to which I belong. Not only has it explained many of my eccentricities, it helps me to redefine my entire life in a new and positive context.

Sure, anyone who knows me would say, “Duh! Why did it take you so long to realize you’re an Introvert?” It’s not that simple. The problem is that labeling someone as an Introvert is a very shallow assessment, full of common misconceptions. It’s more complex than that. 

A section of Laney’s book maps out the human brain and explains how neuro-transmitters follow different dominant paths in the nervous systems of Introverts and Extroverts. If the science behind the book is correct, it turns out that Introverts are people who are over-sensitive to Dopamine, so too much external stimulation overdoses and exhausts them. Conversely, Extroverts can’t get enough Dopamine, and they require Adrenaline for their brains to create it. Extroverts also have a shorter pathway and less blood-flow to the brain. The messages of an Extrovert’s nervous system mostly bypass the Broca’s area in the frontal lobe, which is where a large portion of contemplation takes place.

Unfortunately, according to the book, only about 25% of people are Introverts. There are even fewer that are as extreme as I am. This leads to a lot of misunderstandings, since society doesn’t have very much experience with my people. (I love being able to say that.)

So here are a few common misconceptions about Introverts (I put this list together myself, some of them are things I actually believed):

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

“You cannot escape us, and to change us would lead to your demise.” <-- I made that up. I'm a screenwriter.

It can be terribly destructive for an Introvert to deny themselves in order to get along in an Extrovert-Dominant World. Like other minorities, Introverts can end up hating themselves and others because of the differences. If you think you are an Introvert, I recommend you research the topic and seek out other Introverts to compare notes. The burden is not entirely on Introverts to try and become "normal." Extroverts need to recognize and respect us, and we also need to respect ourselves.

Let me know your thoughts.

-Carl.

P.S. If you're interested in reading more of my ideas, I've written a book called So, You’re A Creative Genius, Now What? It’s a creative career survival guide (artists, musicians, writers, directors, actors) written from the perspective of an extreme introvert.

And uh..... what are these??

In continuing the Chaos and Calm painting class, I did some canvas panels as the base for 2 pieces of art. I'm using blue painters tape to mask out different areas; on the red one, I put tape on before I painted and on the blue one, I am masking over painted areas. I will go back in now and add more paint to build on these, so stay tuned.......

Click either one if you want to see it closer.

I am finding as I do these classes just how much I love color and free form painting. I know that when I do tags or ATCs, I often have a rich color background and it just doesn't look right to me until I get it that way. Color is so expressive and it just makes me smile. I like to think that a bit of who I am on the inside is coming out and going on the canvas. I can't wait to finish these and see what the end results will be!

And tomorrow's my birthday! I hope I will have enough energy to celebrate with my family!! I'm glad I have people to celebrate with - yay!

Tag Tuesday - Summer; And a Story: DIRT ROADS

The theme for Tag Tuesday is Summer, and although I made this card sometime ago, it is very relevant!

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If you want to know what I used, or to join in on the challenge, please go to Blog Challenge Garden.

DIRT ROADS

23rd in the Tuesday Story Series

When I was a child, my parents had a frequent Sunday afternoon ritual of taking the family for a drive. Six children would pile into the car and off we would go, usually with no planned destination in mind, just whatever struck my Dad's fancy. Often the drives would take us to one of the many sea islands around Charleston. At that time, most of the islands were farmland and since my father was the County Extension Agent for the Charleston County area, he knew all of the farmers. Because his job took him to their farms for various reason, he also knew all of the back roads which wound around the islands. It would be those back roads we traveled the most often, and they were usually unpaved and unpopulated.

In that part of the south, live oaks with swaying Spanish moss are a large part of the local landscape. Spanish moss, which is actually not a moss at all but related to the pineapple plant, makes everything romantic in the daylight hours, and somewhat eerie or spooky at night if you weren't used to it. We would follow the winding dirt roads and see majestic live oaks, open fields of crops and palmetto trees by tidal creeks. If the tide was out, there would be little fiddler crabs scurrying across the mud banks as our car drew near, waving their one large claw in the air as if that would scare us away. Sometimes we would startle a deer as we came around a curve and it would leap off into the woods, or we'd see a hawk on a tree limb scanning the countryside for its next meal.

There were places where we would spy an old cabin across a field, leaning to one side, long abandoned and empty. In some spots, there would only be a chimney of brick standing as a lone sentinel, guarding the space where a home had burnt down. We would pass grazing cattle, and Dad would tell us what kind they were, or he would identify the crops in a field. We would seldom pass another automobile. 

http://library.byways.org/assets/75958

Once in a while on a straight stretch of road, Dad would let one of the older children sit in his lap and steer the car. Of course he would be driving very slowly and had his hands hovering right above the child's hands. I remember the thrill of "driving" the car and even though it was for a very short distance, it felt like at least a mile to a young child! Often at the end of the drive, we stopped at a Dairy Queen for a treat, especially during the summer time. 

I always felt a sense of adventure every time we turned onto a dirt road, and the feeling has never left. I still love dirt roads and back roads and the expectation of discovery. Although I am not able to go for a drive as frequently, when we do, I always look for the beckoning back roads!

Enjoy the day!

Rebecca

Er, what is that??

That may be what some people think when they see this painting.....

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..... but it's an exercise for a painting class I am taking online. The exercise is to create depth without hard "lines of demarcation" between colors. It was not an easy thing to do, but I learned a lot. The scan shows more demarcation than is really there - it looks much better in person! My teachers liked it, so I'm happy about that and am moving on to the next lesson.

The name of the class is Chaos and Calm, Over the Edge Painting Techniques. If you are interested in the class, and others that are offered, click here. I never thought much about contemporary art until I started with the other class I was taking, Mixed Media Melange. Now I find I like it and look forward to learning more!

Tag Tuesday - Number 7; And a Story: THIRTY YEARS

The theme for this week is the number 7:

Industrial #7

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I had a lot of fun making this tag! If you want to know what I used, or to join in on the challenge, please go to Blog Challenge Garden.

THIRTY YEARS

22nd in the Tuesday Story series

Yesterday, my husband John and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary! I remember how hot is was the day we were married and how handsome John looked. I remember the little brick house we first lived in and the cherry red carpeting which showed any and all lint and debris - it never looked clean, even right after vacuuming. That house had an oil furnace with one large vent in the hallway, which was supposed to heat the whole house. Thankfully, Charleston rarely had really cold days, because the heater did not do well beyond ten feet of that vent. I remember that the last winter we were living in the house, the heater had to be repaired, and the fan was set too high so that when it ran, we had a layer of soot over everything, including the dishes in the cupboard! The old refrigerator in the kitchen kept that room warm in the winter and unbearable in the summer, because it poured out warm air from the bottom from running the motor. We had two window unit air conditioners on either end of the house, and they did not do very well in Charleston's hot and humid climate. But as a young married couple, we took it all in stride.

20 June, 1981

We had planned on going to Scotland, or Ireland, or elsewhere to celebrate this 30 year milestone in our marriage, but because of my illness, we realized last year that we would not be doing anything like that. We then hoped that perhaps I would be able to travel somewhere closer to home, but as June approached, we knew that was not going to happen either. Instead, we drove up to Saluda, North Carolina for lunch, which is about a 30 minute drive from where we live in South Carolina. It is a lovely drive, through the Greenville County watershed and the mountains. There is a sweet restaurant in Saluda where we've eaten before, called The Purple Onion, and we celebrated our anniversary there by dining outside. The weather was excellent, the food was delicious and we were content. We talked about our lives, the blessings the Lord had given us and that we were just happy to be together.

On our front porch.

The little restaurant in Saluda, NC.

The view from our table.

Another special treat was the gift our daughter gave us. She was at our house when we left, and had brought over an anniversary gift. It was a glass jar with 30 folded slips of paper inside, each with a special memory written on it in different colors of ink. We read them on the way to Saluda and they were all so special and heartwarming! We will keep the jar by our bed for a while and read one or two to each other before we go to sleep. 

It was a wonderful day! Even though I may pay for the travel with exhaustion over the next few days, I am so very grateful that I had the stamina to do what we did today.

 Thankful for all of our blessings! 

Rebecca

Breaking Free

Yesterday I showed the baby Bluebird which had broken free of its shell to begin its new life. I mentioned that there was one egg left, and here it is! The baby inside is slowly breaking free of the shell with its tiny claw, you can see it there in the center. I think this is incredible and it puts me in awe of God's infinite powers of creation!

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It will take a long time to break free, but when it does, it will have built up the strength it will need to continue to grow into an adult Bluebird.

A happy Father's Day for the Bluebird family! And I hope you had a nice one as well!

Rebecca

New Life

On our front porch, we have a nesting ledge, which last summer was a home for Carolina Wrens. This summer, a young pair of Bluebirds took up residence there. I say young, because their nest wasn't as well built as the nest in the Bird Box in the yard, where another family of Bluebirds have raised two broods so far. In the nesting ledge, the Bluebird pair had 4 lovely blue eggs, and yesterday, one of them hatched. I quickly took advantage of the situation to take the following pictures.

Just a few seconds old!

Don't be alarmed at my actions- birds do not have a keen sense of smell and contrary to the old wives tale, they will not reject the baby. After I put the baby back in the nest, the parents started feeding it right away. Today there are 2 babies and the other 2 eggs should hatch in the next day or two. I am just amazed at this tiny form of life, and that it all fit into the small egg! We've been enjoying watching the parents flying back and forth to feed their babies. Life is such a miracle!

Caught!

For months we have known we had a opossum living under our back porch. Sometimes the dogs stood over the spot where it was hiding and would whine and bark, and you could hear the possum growling and spitting back at them. Our Wildlife camera had captured photos of it roaming around during the night, and once and a while the dogs would be out in the evening when it had come out from under the porch, and they would chase it back. We have been trying to capture it in a "trap and release" trap for several weeks and it as been too wily to get caught. Until a couple of days ago!

We switched from putting peanut butter as an enticement to trying cat food. After the third or fourth day of that, the possum let its guard down and suddenly found himself no longer free! The dogs discovered it the next morning and were in a frenzy to "greet" it personally; the poor thing would never have stood a chance if it had been able to get out of the trap!

The creature was loaded into the car, driven for about 11 miles, then released. I didn't know it could move so fast as I watched it scramble up a hillside in broad daylight. I hope where ever it is, it is safe and happy. I just don't want it back here!

It's almost cute... almost.

Rebecca

Tag Tuesday - A Bird; And a Story: THE INVISIBLE ILLNESS

Today's tag features a bird as the focal point. 

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For how I made it or to join in on this challenge, go to my Blog Challenge Garden.

The Invisible Illness

21st in the Tuesday Story Series

Today, I'm not really telling a story or relating a past experience. Rather, I'm speaking of a present ongoing experience, because it's part of my life. I have an invisible illness. There is no cast on a broken appendage, no tell tale sign on my skin, nothing that requires life saving treatments such as chemotherapy. And as with most invisible illnesses, society as a whole doesn't understand it because it does not fit into a neat and tidy box of medical descriptions. I have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, an auto immune disease.

Twenty years ago, fibromyalgia was considered a women's problem, and a mental issue. Now, you see ads for medication on television and in magazines promising to help those who suffer from fibromyalgia. As my doctor mentioned to me recently, probably in twenty years, ME/CFS will be considered mainstream as well, and then all of those who struggle with it will be "legitimately" ill. But for now, most of us bear the doubts of those around us.

I used to own my own antiques business and traveled by myself. I, along with my husband, homeschooled our daughter, who is now 27. I sang in the church choir, planted gardens, researched genealogy, traveled with my husband, oversaw a 600 member organization and worked part time in a friend's antique mall. My husband and I raised a mentally impaired and emotionally disabled adopted child, dealt with an incompetent Mental Health system, and fought with doctors about treatment for this child, which required us to be up to date with the latest medical research. We still deal with current issues involving him.

Three years ago, my life radically changed. The first year I could hardly move from the bed. I was exhausted, with a heavy liquid exhaustion like I have never felt before. My mind became muddled, my stamina was completely gone and I felt that I barely existed. Doctors had no answer. Basically, ME/CFS is defined by what it isn't - in other words after testing for, and ruling out, everything else, ME/CFS was what was left. Over the past three years, I have had to accept where I am, and realize that in all probability my life will never be the same. Though I have improved somewhat (I actually planted several flowers in a flower bed last week), it is highly likely that I will always struggle with relapses and will have days in which I can only lie on the bed. I still have trouble remembering words and thinking clearly, and find that I become overwhelmed very quickly with crowds, large stores and loud sounds. When I overdo, I pay by being unable to move, or with pain. I can not drive any further than the small village we live near without becoming too exhausted to drive back home, so I have to be driven to any appointments by my husband or daughter.

The cost though, is higher than loss of a certain quality of life, this illness also costs in the changes in peoples perception of you. There is a book by Joy Selak entitled You Don't Look Sick! where she describes what has been like for her to live with an invisible illness. The title comes from a comment made to her when she was explaining that she was ill to someone new. I have heard that so many times! And to this day, I am not sure how to answer it - You Don't Look Sick!  - "thank you" ? (for what, don't you believe me?) or "But I am sick really"? (that really sounds convincing!) or "Gee, I'm sorry...." (I really wish I did look sick, you know..). Friends who don't really know what to say, or get tired of waiting for you to feel better just fade away, even people whom I have known for 25 years or more.  Most of my family do not think I am ill, and that, as one put it, "it's all in my head." I have dealt with grief, sadness and anger through this illness, and at times been very lonely.

However, I am not alone. My faith has deepened and sustains me, my husband John, daughter Tabitha, and sister Judy have become like precious gold to me. The small handful of friends that I do have bring laughter and encouragement into my life. I have discovered that I have artistic talent, which may have never happened if my life had stayed the same. I have seen that it doesn't pay to fret over things and I don't need to try to control my surroundings. Recently I was on our front porch, pruning some flowers in hanging pots, and I suddenly realized a sweet breeze was blowing, I could hear Bob White quail calling, and birds scolding around the bird feeders. The horses in the pasture across the road were enjoying the sun. There were no other sounds and for that instance, I felt such peace. 

I encourage you if you know someone who struggles with ME/CFS, Crohn's, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Guillian Barre Syndrome, any kind of illness or injury which is chronic and limiting, be their friend. Believe them, and encourage them. Don't ignore them, or forget them. Send a card occasionally, or call. Love on them. Read The Spoon Theory and you will get a much better idea of what life is like with an invisible illness. 

Rebecca

Tag Tuesday - Soft Pink and Green; And a Story: THE WILD EAST

Today's challenge is using soft pinks and greens. I actually made the background sometime ago when the challenge was simply to make a background tag. Now it's completed and has a new life!

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If you would like to play along, please visit Tag Tuesday Blog Challenge Garden.

The Wild East

20th in the Tuesday Story Series

Kicking aside clumps of newly plowed ground, eyes kept downward as he walked slowly in the hot sun, the young boy spied a small point thrusting though the soil. Reaching down and brushing it off as he straightened his back, he studied his prize - another arrowhead for his collection. Painstakingly finding them in plowed fields, creek beds and areas newly washed out by rain, he had a small but growing collection of artifacts used daily in a time long before his own life had begun. 

When the Europeans settled along the South Carolina coast, there were many Native American tribes in the area claimed and named by the English settlers as Carolina, and later divided into North Carolina and South Carolina. From the Cherokee in the northwest section of SC to the Waccamaw and Waxhaw at the coast, there were many different tribes and communities. Most of us grew up thinking of the Wild West as the place of cowboys and Indians, buffalo and wolves, but before Colonial times buffalo (or bison) and wolves were indigenous to the Carolinas and the Wild West was located right here. As far as the human characters in the drama, the trapper and Indian trader stood in for the cowboy, but the Indians were plentiful. As Charleston grew and pushed into Native American territory, there were major concerns of an attack which could wipe out most of the colonists in the town and on the farms in the surrounding area.

Around that same time, petitions promising land to new settlers were being sent around Europe, bringing German Lutherans to the center of South Carolina, where many of them entered through the port in Charleston. The officials of Charleston were glad to see it, thinking that they would provide a buffer between themselves and any Native American uprising. So gradually, as more settlers came, the tribal lands shrunk and buffalo and wolves diminished until there were no more. The Wild East became the Colonial East.

Some of John's collection.

The young boy above used to wonder about the people who had used the arrowheads, their day to day lives and how they looked and what they accomplished. Each artifact he held had been shaped by hand and used for bringing in food or for protection. Chips and breaks indicated usage, chiseled points and symmetry showed an artisan's care. He held on to his small collection as he grew up, and when we married they moved to a new home.

Thanks for reading!

Rebecca

Mixed Media ATC and Play

For a Mixed Media ATC swap, I turned to what's left of the original Tyvek collage which has yielded the base for several projects. It was the first collage I had done on Tyvek and did not turn out very well when looked at as a whole, but has certainly been lovely in cut up bits and pieces. I still have a good size piece left, but I am already planning on doing another one for cutting up purposes!

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The background seems moody and muted to me, so I added items I felt were supported by this idea. The heart charm is around a small red heart already on the collage, and then I added the fibers and went around the edge with some silver leafing.

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The above piece is an old used postcard which I altered. The original was a picture of Seattle,Washington. Don't think you can tell that now! I ran the postcard through the embosser with a texture fade of an old notebook page, and then applied a coat of gesso. The gesso was wiped and then applied again and wiped again. I adhered cut up pieces from a citrus bag with polymer medium, and after it dried, applied acrylic paint colors and sprayed with water so they would move. I also added some Glass Bead Gel mixed with paint, then dabbed some gold metallic paint across the teensy beads with a paint dauber. 

I am just experimenting with ways to use some of the stacks of postcards I have. Not the international ones I receive from Postcrossing, but a very large stack of other ones. This could be a background for something, or cut up and used in an even large collage creation, or...... something else I haven't thought of yet! It was fun and it's all part of playing around with what I have. 

Hope your Thursday is going well!

Rebecca

Tag Tuesday - The Spoon; And a Story: BIGHORN IN THE SKY

Today's theme in Tag Tuesday stretched us a bit! The theme is the SPOON and here's my take on it:

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The background is from a collage of fiber, fabric, papers and acrylic paint on Tyvek. It's the same piece from which I have cut postcards earlier and posted on my blog. If you want more details about the making of this, please click here.

Bighorn In The Sky

Twentieth in the Tuesday Story Series

When our daughter became old enough to travel, my husband and I used to take her with us on his business trips. He would travel several times a year for his job, and because we home schooled, we could go anytime. Her first trip was to Colorado when she was seven years old and we enjoyed very much being able to be there together!

We were staying in Ft. Collins, which was about an hour north of Denver. Colorado State is there and John was involved in a project with the Engineering department. So while he was in meetings during the day, Tabitha and I did a lot of sightseeing. John and I had been to the area before and so I already knew where she and I could enjoy some wonderful outings. We rode the trolley in Ft. Collins, visited a petting farm, went to the "old town" area of the city and to the zoo in Denver. But my favorite place to share with her was Mt. Evans.

Mt. Evans is almost directly west of Denver and is the highest paved road in America. At the top is an observatory (not open to the public) and the ruins of an old restaurant which burned down many years ago. But before you get to the top, there is a wonderful area with a glacier, and a small lake called Summit Lake. In the summer, you would still see snowflakes and if you were from the "flatlands" like we were, you had to move slowly because of the high altitude. It was so beautiful! We came very close to mountain goats and bighorn sheep.

 June 1986 - Mt Evans at Summit Lake

The road up to Mt. Evans is two lane, and on one side there is no shoulder. I kid you not, it is straight down, with only about 6 inches between the pavement and the edge. You did not speed. The view was tremendous, but you drove very slowly! On the day I took Tabitha up there, as we were coming back from Summit Lake we noticed Bighorn Sheep walking single file between the road and the drop off. We slowed down (even more) and pulled up along side of them. I rolled the window down and the leader of the pack stopped and studied us. I whispered to Tabitha to feed them one of the snack crackers she had in her lap and she held one out to him. He stuck his head in the car and munched it down, then suddenly several of them were trying to get in on this largess. How they managed to finagle around like that in such a small space is very amazing! We finished feeding them everything we could find and because the drivers in the few cars behind us were getting impatient, we reluctantly drove away.

1990, Mt. Evans with Tabitha and Bighorn

That trip has always been one of my favorite memories. Every time we had a trip to Colorado, we made sure to drive to Mt. Evans. However, the last time we were there, we were disappointed to see that there was a admission booth where you had to buy tickets to drive up the road, and a gift shop, etc. Mt. Evans had fallen to commercialism, and it wasn't quite the same. We really enjoyed it when it was a wilder place!

Rebecca

Quick Cards

In the past couple of days, I made two quick cards to send out, one to my daughter and one to a friend outside of Fargo ND.

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Nothing very fancy, but something fun to send a message in the US Mail!

The Bluebirds are raising their second brood and the juveniles from their first brood are hanging around the feeders now. Every time mom or dad Bluebird shows up at the feeder they start begging for the parents to feed them, even though they are quite capable of feeding themselves. We have a couple of small feeders with mill worms in them for the Bluebirds. I put the water dripper on the birdbath and it's been great fun to see them line up to use the birdbath now that the weather is getting quite warmer. I hung the hummingbird feeder from the top of the porch this year, right near where we sit. Now when the hummingbirds come, I can see through the clear bottom and watch their long thin tongue hit the bottom of the feeder in rapid repetitions! I'm hoping I can get some impatiens in the ground soon.

Enjoy your Monday!

Rebecca

Tag Tuesday - Strawberries; And a Story: HOW MUCH INK?

Taking a sharp turn from all the blues and greens we've done the past few weeks, the theme today is Strawberries!

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It's bright enough to wake you up, don't you think? For details on how it was made, or to join the challenge, click here.

How Much Ink?

Nineteenth in the Tuesday Story Series

There was an illustrative story I read once, written by a man, I forget his name, who had realized a life's truth by an observation he made. He was sitting at his writing desk, engrossed in completing some correspondence to friends and acquaintances when he noticed a fly sitting on the windowsill near his desk. It was a common, ordinary housefly and it was busily grooming itself in the sunshine. The man dipped his quill in his ink bottle and bringing it over to the fly, let one drop of ink fall on it to see what the fly would do. The housefly immediately started vigorously cleaning itself, wiping his front legs over his face repeatedly and shaking its wings. 

"Interesting." thought the man who had at first believed that the ink drop would perhaps drown him. So as the fly was finishing his task, he filled the quill again and let it drop. Once again, the fly began taking care of this problem immediately. This course of events replayed a couple of more times, and the man noticed that the fly was becoming slower in its response. Finally, the fly did not move, whether done in by exhaustion, or the poisonous ink the man could not tell. He reflected on this experience and relating it to the human realm. thought how often people deal with adverse conditions, and that when calamity follows calamity how people are worn down and even more so when they are trying to fight in their own strength. When there is no break for reflection or refreshing of the spirit, man can be drowned in whatever ink has befallen him.

We are not meant to carry all that we struggle with alone. Prayer is an avenue open to us, not just for times of trouble, but times of praise as well. Having friends with whom to pour out your heart is another way of "cleaning the ink off". Being a friend willing to help someone unburden themselves is a precious gift. We all have been in both places and I hope that you will open your heart to someone you may know who is going through a rough time. Listening is an art, and easily done by keeping our mouths closed and using our ears to hear, not our minds to form responses for when it's our turn to talk. 

Recently I have felt like that fly and it's been difficult because there is no one here I can really talk with. We moved here 4 years ago, and I have been stricken with the illness now for 3 of those 4 years, not really having sufficient time to form friendships. We have been under crushing stress with the situation with our adopted son and my husband and I are leaning heavily on our faith to bring us through these troubling times. I long for a friend, though, someone who would enjoy spending some of their busy time sitting with me on the porch, helping me see better out of these ink stained eyes and help give me respite during this time of struggle. I pray God will give me such a gift!

Short Musings

Well, my blog was looking a little lonely, only seeming to post once or twice a week. It's been a rough month for us with our adopted son. He has emotional disabilities, other disorders and  he cannot live at home. He is 19, totally irresponsible, will not listen to advice, and completely lost. He is unstable and we cannot find much help for him because of budget cuts. We are praying that he will finish high school and be able to get some sort of job, if he is willing to work. My husband has had to put in a lot of emotional time and effort to try an keep him on some sort of even keel and it is taking its toll on him. I suffer from PTSD because of years of life with this child and currently have ME/CFS and it's coming up on three years of that. I have been ordered by my doctors to not see or speak to this child and I still have flashbacks.

I don't usually say much about this, because I prefer to focus on more positive things and most people don't seem to understand anyway. We have gotten lots of unasked for advice and ignorant comments. Because of our faith, we push on. If I did not have the Lord to lean on, I do not know how I would have made it this far. It is comforting to know that this is not all there is, that someday there is an eternity without pain and suffering and that this life is so small in comparison. The sorrow of this world will be replaced with joys and beauty. I believe it!

Tag Tuesday - The Deep; And a Story: TO BE OR NOT

For today's Tag Tuesday, the theme is The Deep, as in deep in the ocean or the deep blue sea. I actually had started this tag sometime back for something else, but didn't like how it was turning out so I put is aside and did another one. I found it again a few days ago, and had new insight in what I wanted to do with it and this is the result. I remember reading not too long ago about how having to straighten up your studio could be a blessing in disguise because you may uncover something that brings a creative spark and that's just what happened! Sometimes I'm happy that I find it difficult to throw away things. :)

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For information on how I made it, and to join in the Tag Challenge, click here. We always love to have new people join the challenge!

To Be Or Not

Eighteenth in the Tuesday Story Series

My husband John and I met when he moved in next door to my roommate and me on the Isle of Palms. I liked him from the beginning (wasn't that convenient!) and after knowing each other for a couple of months, he asked me out to dinner several times and each time was a delightful evening. I gleaned from our conversations that I was older than he and that bothered me a bit. Not because he was five years younger, but because I thought once he knew I was older, the age difference might bother him. So the subject never really came up, but I knew sooner or later, it would.

One particularly lovely Autumn evening, we were driving back to the islands after a fresh seafood dinner and the conversation turned to theatre. John mentioned that he had often participated in such activities during his high school years, and that he had memorized several passages from Shakespeare. John is an engineer and it is not a common thing for an engineer to like theater, art and classical music, all of which were part of John's life. I expressed surprise about the Shakespeare and asked him if he remembered anything. He immediately launched into Hamlet's soliloquy from act three, scene one, speaking with no hesitation as we crossed the connecting bridges to the sea islands.

After he had finished, I was very impressed and I told him so. He smiled at me and there was a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then, he said "You know, I know you are a bit older than me, do you mind if I ask how old you are?" 

"Oh no!" I thought, "here it comes." And saying a quick prayer, I simply said "I'm thirty-two."

"No, no," he replied, not believing me, "it's ok, how old are you really?"

"I'm thirty-two."

"Oh, c'mon, it's ok- just tell me."

"I'M THIRTY-TWO!!!!!"

Dead silence. We crossed the last bridge connecting the islands and he turned down our street. "Well, that's it." I thought, "It's obvious that he is bothered by the age difference." And we said goodnight and I went through the front door, into my room and starting crying. My roommate came in and was saddened to hear my tale of woe, and she started crying too.

The next day there was a knock at the door, and there stood John. I was happily surprised and invited him in, telling him that after the night before, I thought he wasn't interested in seeing me again. It was then that he told me that his fear was that I would think he was too young for me and he had to come back and make sure! 

And the rest, as they say, is history!!

Rebecca

Art Czech

One of the fun things about Postcrossing is that you never know what country you will be sending to or receiving from. I've received many really nice cards and yesterday a neat one came in from the Czech Republic. It was a card printed from a lino-cut that the sender had made. Lino-cuts are like wood block cuts, the artist carves the art in a square of linoleum backwards, then inks and prints it.

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The sender included his address on the postcard with the greeting, and when that happens, I try to send a thank you card back to them. So I cut out a third collage postcard piece and glued it to card stock and sent it to him.

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It's textured, so I hope it doesn't have a problem getting there! Today I sent out postcards to Russia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Belarus and the US. I don't usually send hand made postcards unless the receiver states in their profile that they like to receive them. It's a lot of fun!

Hope your day is going well!

Rebecca

Tag Tuesday - Color Combo; And a Story: OWL ON THE ROAD

The theme for Tag Tuesday was the color combination of blue and green. My tag is pretty simple, it was one of those not so great weeks health wise. But hey - I did one!

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For more information about how I made the tag, or to join the challenge, click here..

Owl On the Road

Seventeenth in the Tuesday Story Series

I have mentioned in an earlier story that my father's parents lived in a small village in the mid-state. When we would travel there for a visit, it would be on back roads, which at that time were the ONLY roads to travel anywhere, because I-26 wasn't completed until during the decade of the 1960's. So I guess in reality they weren't really back roads at all, but instead were the main roads of the time! Anyway, the drive took us through small towns, country pastures, and intersections which may have boasted simply a gas station or a post office. We enjoyed it, because there were always things to look at and we played some fun travel games, which I will detail in another story.

One particular Sunday evening (we usually made a day trip on a Sunday), the weather was turning stormy as we approached the Charleston area. I liked storms, still do, and had firm trust in my Dad's driving those two lane roads. As we were coming down Hwy 61, the road where several famous plantations fronted, the trees were swaying and rain was beating on the car. Dad was travelling pretty slow because it was so dark. Suddenly he hit the brakes, and backed the car up a bit, put it in park and hopped out. He picked up something and put it in the trunk of the car, and returned, a bit wetter, to the drivers seat. Of course we we clamoring for more information, even my mother was unsure of what just transpired. Dad calmed us down and said that he had noticed a Barred Owl sitting by the side of the road, and when he stopped and went back to it, it never moved, so Dad was able to pick it up. He thought it was stunned by either lightening or by flying into a loose branch in the storm. 

We had a wooden cage up on legs in the backyard which over time had held baby raccoons, and other forms of wildlife that my Father had come across in his traversing across farmlands. We kept him him the cage for a few days to make sure he had no injuries. Of course, we named him Hooty (please, I was only 10, and the rest were even younger!) The Charleston newspaper came out and took a picture of me holding the owl.

March 1959

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I look a bit stressed, but it was because of the way they made me hold him - I kept thinking I must have been hurting him. Soon, Dad felt like Hooty was ready to return to the wild, and we released him one afternoon into the woods behind our house. As soon as he flew up in a nearby tree, the blue jays, crows, mocking birds, and others made the most awful ruckus and dived at him repeatedly. They were obviously none too fond of him, and they were a bit riled that he was out during their time in the neighborhood, rather than waiting till evening as a proper owl should. He seemed to take no mind of them, but preened his feathers a bit, then gracefully took wing further back in to the forest, with his retinue screaming behind him. I think the love I have for animals comes from seeing the care my dad took of the wild ones he would come across. The place where we parted opinion was whether dogs should be in the house or out, but that's another story!

Be kind to animals!

Rebecca