Catching up on art...

Just passing through to catch up on my art posts. It looks like it's been a while!

Life has been pretty much "the usual". Work, a little babysitting, lots of art and homey things.

Well, one thing happened that's out of the ordinary. My daughter Micah was visiting with a friend at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and her friend was excited that they had bought some land and were going to build next spring. Micah asked where the land was and it turns out to be the land where we lived in our log house! Micah was sad about that. She's secretly harbored a hope that she might "someday" buy the place back. I don't think it was a realistic dream, since hubby Adam doesn't want to live that close to town, but it sort of made her realize it wasn't going to happen. They are going to have the cabin burned down by the fire department and are going to build at the other end of the property. It is a sad event, but I think we can be glad that the place went to a nice little family who will love it as much as we did. And, on some level, I'm glad other folks won't be living in our log cabin. I think it was meant to be lived in just by our little family and now  its work is done. We built it together with our own hands. It was a dream of my husband's to build it, and though it was never really finished, we loved it. So many memories. We'll shed some tears (as I have been for some years) but God has so much in store for us. Nothing on this earth is forever, except our relationship with Jesus and our loved ones who love Him.

I told Micah that now her farm would be "the farm" to her kids, and they will love it just like she loves the old place.

Good bye old house. Thank you for sheltering us and giving us a place to raise some of the best kids in the world. May they always remember where they came from!

 And we'll miss the white house we moved into about 5 years ago on the adjoining piece of property. I'm told the new owners of this house built a shed right on the fence line next to the log house and filled it with goats and dogs! I guess that's why the new owners of the log house lot want to build at the other end of the property, lol. (Both houses are on our original 13 acre farm. We lost the cabin and 9 acres to the bank in 2011 and moved a manufactured home onto the 4 acre lot, for those not in the know.) The picture of the log house above was taken from the window of the white house. They're close.

Anyway, onward we go. Life is always changing, but the Lord never does. Keep your eyes on Him!

And now for the artwork...

This acrylic on a 5x7 canvas board is called Peace in the Storm. I gave it to my folks in Texas.

 My daughter and son-in-law bought me this tiny canvas, and I made another version of Peace in the Storm to keep just for myself. :)

 These were for a Halloween Pumpkin swap...

 These were for the Faith RAK (Random Act of Kindness). They will be given away to people in nursing homes. This is an ongoing thing I do. When I get a bunch I mail them to my friend in Kentucky and she and her husband, who is a pastor, give them away as part of their ministry.

 These were for a Pick-a-Theme (PAT) swap. Each member of my group requested a certain theme which I had to draw a picture for.

 

These were also for the Faith RAK. I thought men might like these more than the flowery ones. :)

 Last week I started a new Sketchbook Skool class. The teacher last week was Danny Gregory and he was teaching us to draw cartoons to illustrate an event in our lives. He was actually teaching about graphic novels, but we did something a little simpler.

 Next Danny had us do a cartoon of A Day in My Life.

 This week my teacher is Koosje Koene, a lady artist from the Netherlands. She's teaching about negative space. She had us draw things by outlining the space around the object. I don't do well drawing like this, but I tried. And now I'll go back to drawing positive space!

Sorry to heap so much art on you, but I really want to keep up my record so I have it all in one place since most of it is given away. :) Thanks for your patience!

And thanks for stopping by! Shalom to you and all your households!

Let's start cooking!

I am one of those folks who have never been interested in cooking. My patient and forgiving family can attest to this. BUT, I have had an interest in Israeli cooking. I want to experience the aromas and tastes of the holy land, since I may never get to visit this side of heaven.

Today, I was dropping off some books to donate to the book sale when I decided to browse the shelves. I was actually looking to see if they had copies of the Gervase Phinn books, but I came across THIS...

YES! I grabbed it off the shelf, along with a couple of other cooksbooks and headed for the checkout. I just now ordered a copy from Amazon. This may solve my problem of not knowing what to make for dinner. I hope the recipes can be reduced for one person. Otherwise, Micah and family will be doing some Middle Eastern eating with me!

Anyway, it's late, so I won't drone on. I hope to get back soon to blog on whatever's been happening. It's a working weekend and I've signed up for yet another Sketchbook Skool term. Never thought I would, but what can I say? I'm weak... :)

Y'all have a great weekend! God bless and shalom!

A scintillating post about social security...

Aaaahhhh! Well, I bit the bullet and made that dreaded call to the social security office to discuss applying for widow's benefits. My brain is not the sort that likes to think upon this type of thing, so it quickly began to spin in circles as I tried to take notes. In a nutshell, I found out that if I want to receive a check for November (the month of my birth) I need to cut my hours at work so that I'm grossing less than $1310/mth. If my math is correct (let me know if it's not, please!), at my current wage of $12/hr I would need to work less than 27 hours per week.

Now that I've theoretically cut my hours back (and that's actually only a few hours less than I'm working now because fall has arrived and we always get cut back) I will get my November check...the fourth Wednesday of DECEMBER, based on the fact that Bob's birthday was the 25th of the month. Feels like a leap of faith! But, it must be done, and hopefully all will be smooth sailing afterwards as long as I don't go over that monthly gross income level. Right? If there's anyone out there with experience in this, please just let me know if I've got my facts straight. Now I just need to let my boss know to cut me back and I have to make an appointment to fill out the application at the social security office before November 30. Whew.

It feels like a huge thing, so I'll have to take it one step at a time. I'm sure it's do-able. I'm already thinking of job options, one being to work at the local school in the kitchen. As much as I'd like to get out of food service, it may be the best option. No nights or weekends! It will depend on whether they'll take someone on part-time. There are other possibilities, but I may start with this one.

In other news, I may start posting entries from my "Pink Journal" so they will be recorded here for my kids if they should want to look at them later. Mostly these will be thoughts of a spiritual nature that I want to leave with them. Who knows if blogger will even exist by the time I wander off to heaven! But, maybe someone will find them of interest in the meantime. :)

And here we go! (You'll probably have to click on them to enlarge so you don't hurt your peepers...)

 

Well, that's a start. I won't bore you with the whole journal right now. ;)

 

On the lighter side, I'm falling behind on my ATC pics. Lucky you!
These red birds are for the Faith Art RAK (Random Act of Kindness), and they will be given out to people in need of some cheer and support. I send them off to a friend of mine in Kentucky, and she and her husband, a minister,  use them in their ministry.

 This is for a monthly 5x7 canvas board swap. I mailed this off to one of the gals  from my ATC site and she will be sending me one in return. This is a rip-off of one of Van Gogh's paintings called "Willows at Sunset". (I made a smaller version on an ATC earlier, if it looks familiar.)

 The next four cards were made for a swap called Finish It Up. The host sent each of us an envelope containing some paper items. We were to design some cards using the items she sent. The items were...

...a vitamin label...

 ...a superhero word (Zap and the little explosion thingy)...

 ...a cat dressed up as a person...

 ...and another cat  dressed up as a person as a gift card for the host.

 THEN there was the ever-popular Ballpoint Pen Swap...

 Lastly, for the moment, these two are for the Halloween Pumpkin Swap.

 

Sweet son, Jordan and his friend Brooke. I think they're an item! I pray that she will be as faithful, true-blue and fun loving as Jordan. He's waited a long time!

 Adele...super-hero!

 Her little brother, Sully/Sly (not sure which will stick yet). He's already looking around to see what kind of mischief he can get into. :)

If you've read this far...you are a true friend! Ha ha! Thanks for dropping by, y'all!
Shalom on you and yours!

Sully is here!

My new grandson, Sullivan Loren Yliniemi, arrived yesterday, September 10, at 2:25 a.m. He's 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches. He and mom, Micah, are doing great and will come home today, when I'll get to meet him for the first time.

I received the expected phone call at 11 p.m. Friday, asking me to come over to stay with the three grandgirls while Micah and Adam drove to the hospital, which is an hour and fifteen minutes away. Micah always does most of her laboring at home and BARELY makes it to the hospital in time, lol. Actually, it was a whole 2 hours later that they had the baby. She said that she experienced a couple of contractions on the trip where they thought they might have to pull over and deliver the baby in the car. Ha!

I had worked on Friday, doing the customary chicken frying, so I'm a bit done in today. I didn't get much more sleep than the laboring mom. :) Then a long day of keeping up with three active girls. Whew! (Poor me; whine.)

Anyhoo, here are pics of the little man. His middle name is that of his great-grandfather's on his dad's side. He will be much adored by his big sisters! And he will be called Sully or Sly, more than likely. :)

 Audrey and Hazel had their first day of school pictures taken on Tuesday. Audrey is in kindergarten (homeschool) and she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up.

 Hazel is a preschooler and she wants to be a cowboy! :) I suggested to her that she might have to be a cowGIRL. To which she replied with a little smile, "Oh. Okay." She didn't know that option was available.

 

That's all the news fit to print at the moment. Everyone enjoy your Sunday!
Shalom.

Time keeps flying!

Seems like I just posted and here it is about 10 days later!

I had a weekend of frying chicken at work for all the Labor Day celebrators. It was hectic, but I really feel it today. TIRED, achy, and fuzzy in the brain. Hopefully, things will now slow down at work. My manager in the deli just announced that December 30th will be her last day. I was feeling bad about cutting back or quitting in mid-November, because I didn't want to leave her more short-handed than she already was, so this news makes my departure a little easier. Thank you, Lord! She's had arthritis issues for years, and she and her hubby decided now was the time to quit rather than trying to make it through another year. So, this semi-retirement stuff is becoming more real every day. I can't really go out and appy for another job until my social security kicks in in mid-November. I need to think outside the box about what is available and possible around here. Prayers for wisdom appreciated!

I just mailed cards off for a swap called "What's In Your Cabinet?" (Curiosity Cabinets):

"Trapped in Amber"

"Bottles and Jars"

"Vintage Stuffed Animals"

"Under the Sea"

Another swap was called "Found Poetry: Illustrated". The idea was to glue a square of text from a book page onto your card. Then find a "poem", which doesn't need to rhyme or even look like a poem. Mostly it just makes a funny sentence. And then you illustrate it. These turned out kind of clunky, but for the record, I'll post them. :)

Well, I'm off to do more resting, and to deliver some birthday gifts to my little grandgirl, Hazel. She's FOUR today! Here's what I got for her.

Ha, ha! The red car is for Audrey, so they can have races up and down the hall. Hazel's little cousin, Max, had a birthday a few days ago and this is what they gave him. Hazel was sad to send the toys off in the mail, so I got her the same toys for her birthday. With Hazel it's dinos one minute and tutus the next! She's such a treat!

Oh, and Hazel and Audrey have another past time. It's called dressing up their little living doll of a baby sister! My daughter titled this "Princess Della Bean, the Sponge Bob jammie queen". :)

 And don't forget the cape! Hello, sweet Audrey sister!

Here's Hazel the birthday girl, being all grown up at gymnastics. ;)

Okay, I really am going this time! I need to catch up on YOUR blogs! Have a blessed week, everyone!

Shalom!