March 31 Bunny Trails

Hello and Happy last day of March.   I always forget how many days are in a month and I always have to recite the little saying I learned at least a million years ago.  30 days has September, April, June and November all the rest have 31 except for February has 28  except in a leap year and it has 29.   Where I learned it I don't have a clue and the fact that I remember it is almost an earth shattering event.  Really!!

It is funny little things you remember from growing up. Some are good and some are not as good but put those out of your head and just remember the good memories, like having mud fights and playing hide and seek when you are dressed up like an Indian or a Cowboy.  You never knew who the Indians were or the Cowboys until we started playing.  Sometimes I was an Indian and sometimes a Cowboy.  No planning we just played.    I know you all have a wonderful story to tell  and if you want to share it here that is good and if not it is good also.  Little things in life just pop into your head with no warning at all.   I guess I should write them down but then that might be work.

We did take a little mini vacation yesterday and went to the beach over at Port Aransas Texas.  The hardest part of that is waiting inline for the ferry to take us over to the island.  We thought we were almost in the twilight zone we only had to wait maybe 10 minutes and usually it is 1 1/2 hours or more, depending on the traffic.  They do have another giant ferry they have added and that helps also.     We usually are semi patient to wait though we just love watching the waves and just hearing it with all the energy in that water.   The wind was blowing, not the West Texas strength but blowing about 15 to 20 miles an hour, just a gentle breeze.  There were quite a few people at the beach  being as it was Good Friday and the Easter weekend. It is always interesting to see all the "set ups" people have at the beach, with tents and umbrellas ans what have you.   We just, after walking the beach, sat in the back of our SUV and had a nice non wind relaxing time.   We are bums now you remember.

We did take a picture of the waves and I had to write a little note to a sweet and strong friend.  I left an e out of her name but she didn't care.   Just felt good to do this and hear the gulls and watch the little "chicken birds" as our daughters use to call the little birds that ran around on the beach.   I have no idea what kind of birds they are so "chicken birds" are good for us.  Now the sun was so strong I could not see the edges of the words on the screen of my little fun camera  ( I do not take my ancient good camera to the beach ) so Eldon placed his foot on one side, I zeroed in on that spot  and then he went to the other side and his foot came with him, to mark the other side of the name.  We just laughed, he has done, in the photography world, different things than that for me to get the right camera framed image.   Thank you Eldon, you are the best helper ever.

While on the subject of Eldon helping me, he was a good sport about it all.   I had started photographing airplanes at night and he helped me with these also.  It was always interesting what we did in photography and certainly a fun adventure in my life.  Once he went up with me in a small plane while I was photographing something.   He was looking thru a camera also and said he didn't know how I did it for so long.  I always got funny feeling in the head for the rest of the day but it was still fun.   I wouldn't have traded those years for anything, meeting a great group of clients and today most of them I am still in contact with. That is a blessing.     Here is one of the planes we photographed with nothing but a flash. 

Now this is the back of a painting.  A lot of the studio samples I just turned around and  used gesso and  then a painting surface for me. 

Here is now the front of the painting, a reflection on the glass but if you remember I used this and two others as a back splash in our kitchen.

Now Eldon gets to see the finished images of my paintings.  He is my inspiration and best cheerleader joined by many cheerleaders for me on Facebook.   I am a lucky lady.

I just finished a painting and I did so stray from the inspiration photo I had to go by.  Man alive did I stray but it was some collage and painting and when it is collage to me that means add stuff Annette.  A little strong for some but you have to have fun with your painting or you just will burn out.  I mean all the paintings I create now are for fun and the stack of the paintings are growing.  I have sold some and some prints but just painting to keep me out of trouble.  I have added more white highlights on this Carmen Miranda inspired lady.   I just had to add goodies to her hat.  I guess my Texas bling just had to shine.

Now I did have a calmer self last week and did this Madonna and am using her also for Ciggies in my crazy quilting and even sold a few for other Crazy Quilters. 

Well there you go my end of March shout out to you my readers.    Thank you for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.

                                                              OXOXOX
                                                                Annette

The Winners Are ---

Good morning, today is the day for me to have my drawing for the one winner of celebrating my 90,000 plus posts.  The  3 winners are   ( I know just one but I just can't help myself)   Jackie PN, Julie McAuliffe and Cheryl Hicks.   For some reason some of the posts were deleted, good ole computer/internet, so it was a good job I checked back everyday to see who posted a note.    Congratulations my dears and hope you like your little prize.   Now off to gather prizes and see where my day takes me.   Ok I can't stand it I have 11 more name that are getting a surprise   Luann Fischer if you could private message me on Facebook? with your address.    I do that everytime,  I say one winner and I just make a bunch more.



Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today.

                                                               XOXOXO
                                                                Annette

Bust the Deal, Face the Wheel

Hello and happy Saturday.    Today the sun is shining and feels so good on your bones doesn't it?   I was going to share the Shrimp boats out in the bay and finally remembered to bring my camera.  Well the boats weren't there so we will try again tomorrow.   It was so interesting to watch them and the patterns they went in the water. 

I finished a painting and it after John Waterhouse's mermaid.   Sort of like his painting and I thought I would show the work in progress and then the finished piece.  I think I will start adding these paintings to my Web page and start selling them.  I think. 

Here she is starting her looks, it is funny how they become who they are when finished. 

Here she is finished I think, you know how that goes, you think a painting is finished then after a few days after it "cooks"  you think what was I thinking?   You go at it with a whole different mind set.

It is getting pretty again here, there is still lots of Hurricane damage to be repaired but this little town is getting it done.  I think warm weather helps the attitude of it all also.   We added this little rocked area in the back yard.  The space was impossible to mow and so gravel and landscape cloth took care of it.   Eldon brought the gravel from the back of the car and I cut the bags and dumped it out on the cloth.  We had team work going on.  Yes we can hire it done but why do that when you enjoy doing it and are able to do it yourself?   We are just leasing the home but we didn't figure the landlord would mind if we did a little upgrade here and there and we put down some sod with Saint Augustine grass on part of  the yard.   We have to make it pretty if we are going to stay here a bit.  The Hibiscus is doing great and now for Annette to give the chairs a good coat of paint.   I just wanted to make sure the wood was good and dry, we have been getting little sprinkles of rain here and there.  I am not sure what painting wet wood would do but I think it needs to be good and dry.  

Now you may remember the movie of Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome.  If you bust the deal you face the wheel of punishment.  Well we have a few more days for my drawing  and I certainly don't want to bust the deal, when I said we would celebrate our 90,000 plus views.  Some a few more days  until March 14th and we will draw a winning name or two.  You know how I do on my drawings.   So be sure and leave your name below and please check back to see who the winners are.  I will announce on FaceBook also who the winners are.  Good luck to you all.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what is going on in my world today. 

                                                       XOXOXO
                                                         Annette

Some March This and That

 Hello there, March 1st, the first day of the month and shockingly the sun is shining and feels so good and taking in some Vitamin D.   It has been a cloudy and grey February.  Hummm if I remember correctly it was the same in January also.  The fog has been thick as pea soup, not green like the soup but pretty thick fog.  You could see it rolling inland.  Luckily we did get some Northern winds and that certainly helps blow the fog back out into the water.  We get lots of fronts with the weather here, we didn't realize that but just an adventure and learning all sorts of things.   Now I know things are a little different here in South Texas, they call it the Coastal Bend but South Texas to hubby and I.   When in West Texas it was Fall and Fall color and then Winter with Snow.   In January we got 3 inches of snow here in Rockport Tx,  it never really snows down here and I honestly think weather follows Hubby and I.  Really !!!! When we lived outside of Houston in 1972-3 in Katy, when Katy was a small town ( it has been gobbled up by Houston now ), we got snow.    It had not snowed in that area the paper said in 50 years.   Is this a pattern do you suppose?  Weather following us?   We found out the Hurricane had 9 tornadoes in it also.    Well we got the snow in January which finished snowing by 10 AM and was melted and gone by 3 PM. the good snow,  not like what is it they say, company and fish begin to smell after 3 days?   Well this snow didn't over stay it's visit for sure.  I took photos of the snow but they are in hiding from me.  Guess they are playing hide and seek and if they ever turn up I will share.   Then in February we got this :

The prettiest fall colors ever and was across the street so we could enjoy it for a few days.   Sadly the people who live there didn't get to enjoy it as much as we did, they were still not living in their home because of Hurricane damages.    A little color sprinkled here and there and was just a beautiful color.  I have come to the conclusion that  Mother Nature does what she wants to do down here or anywhere.  When she wants to clear her throat, she does it.  I will not complain though, weather just makes life interesting and I do like some seasons during the year.

I had to share what also happened in our Neighborhood.  The city came and it was our turn for round 1 of the clean up. Right now I think round 3 of clean up with the big trucks is going on.  It was a wonderful site to us all, the trucks and "diggers" as grandson use to call them.   We sat in the garage and watched this, gave the workmen thumbs us and we looked around and neighbors all along the street had their lawn chairs just watching it all get cleared up.  It felt so good to see the rubble go off to the meridian on Highway 35. That is the only place they have to put so much debris and it was for miles also but now the meridian  is getting cleared and that is such a good site.   I cannot imaging how much mold and not the best things for you was in the rubble. Silly us we didn't think to wear a mask so it did choke us up later but we lived and no complaints from us.

I do like the way his safety stabilizer was down on the "digger:    

We saw where they dumped the tree trunks and cuttings and they were making mulch, piles and piles of mulch.  Good to recycle and we are talking big mounds and piles of mulch.

Now we have not been as busy as the workers here but I have been painting portraits like a wild woman.   I don't know what I am going to do with them but the stack of paintings are growing. 

Here are a couple of new paintings I have just finished, there are lots more but I won't bore you with them all.   I saw this one on the internet and it just spoke to me and kind of reminds me of the little girl on Golden Compass, I loved that movie so of course I had to paint this.  It is mixed media and sitting on my stack of pretties.   I like the way the owl and the girl are connecting and the colors just spoke to me. 

One more painting Frida Kahol and I wanted to make her softer than the stern paintings and photos I have seen of her.   I did take some liberties with her but isn't that an artist's licence?     Again it is a mixed media painting. 

Now I have not been idle with my Crazy Quilting.   This is a beautiful heart a friend let me embellish for her.   I love to embellish but not the sewing part.  I laugh sometimes I have a rule that if the piece doesn't weigh 100 pounds it just isn't finished.   This is a relaxing art form of art for me to do while watching TV and  and and Baseball is fixin to start.    

I did have a pretty pin I added to this and the sweet Faerie someone sent to me.  I sadly don't remember who sent the faerie but a giant thank you for thinking of me.  

I do have a little surprise, I have reached 90,011 views on this blog.   Sooooooooo when you leave a comment you might just mention what , in my giveawaould make you happy to win, I have a list of 3 things for you to choose. A small print of a painting I have created, a piece of CQ related aka ciggie or a felt pretty.  The names who write the comments on this post and the next post will go in our high tech drawing.  Names on paper and hubby draws the name.  

Well this is what happening in my world today and thank you for stopping by  

OXOXXO

Annette