Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

 

 Today I finished this portrait I started a long time ago.  I was quite pleased with the way she turned out.  Now I look forward to starting something new.  Some artists have different projects going on at once. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since I started this painting. During the mean time I did complete some rather daunting commissions and other painting projects.  Liking to complete a project before I start on something new, I'm looking forward to my next project.



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UFOs in the Sky

The "before" photo this rainy morning.

This morning I made a photo from inside the rain splattered window outside.  I had no idea I would also capture the images of several UFOs in the photo.



The "after" photo after I removed the offending UFOs.



The ethereal effect in this photo came as a pleasant surprise.  I could not have duplicated the effect if I had tried.  The UFOs that were removed were reflections from the recessed kitchen lights.

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Twenty-four Hour Whirlwind

Sometimes in the evening we have been burning incense.  I love

the pattern of smoke it produces.  We buy our favorite at the Green Earth

Emporium in Bearden.  Pinon wood is one favorite fragrance.



There is a long story about my antique art deco cabinet.  After many years,

it made it safely home today here in Knoxville.  No wavy leaded glass broken on

the way. I do have to share, there were so many spider egg sacs under

this thing.  Clint just reminded me he left the room.  I reminded Clint not only

did he leave the room, HE LEFT THE HOUSE!  I have to say, I am not that

frightened of spiders but this was one time I was overwhelmed by them.



My daughter and her family gave us a gift certificate to one of their

favorite restaurants, the Homeland Cafe in Oak Ridge, TN.  We

 had lunch there today and it was very delicious.  Salmon filled crepes.

The lovely owner, Maria, was so nice and friendy.  We felt

like we had made a new friend after we left there.

Here I have the photos and long-winded captions done and I am too exhausted to finish telling about our whirlwind day.  It was a good and productive day and I'll write more about it later. 

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January Thoughts and More



The other evening I looked out the window to see something

and when I looked back around I was amazed at this scene

I had never seen before in our house.  By now anyone reading

my blog knows I love darkness, shadows, light, candlelight

and all the reflections in the mirrors.



Playing around with the photo of our bird feeder

encased in frost and ice.  This blue tone

makes it appear even more frigid.  I actually like it this way.





We had an ice storm here Thursday morning.  Luckily we did not
lose power but my daughter and her family who live about four miles
away did lose power.  I was happy to hear they had a generator
going and all was well.

Clint even slid downhill standing on the grass when he went out
to get the paper.





Trying to become more organized *BIG SNICKER*, I thought

I would get my clothes all together to wear to church early in the

morning. We leave here at 8 am.

This is a photo of a plan that came together.  A few months ago my

sister and I stopped by a department store, I wanted a red skirt.  There were

no red skirts in the entire store. 

Later we stopped by the Goodwill and alas, no red skirts there that

we could find.  As we were going out the door, we walked past

 a rack of clothing that was to be put out for sale.  The red color attracted

my sister's eye and she said, "Look at this skirt!"

An Ann Taylor skirt, perfect condition, in my size and RED!

Cost:  $2.00.

Oh, I almost forgot.  This morning I registered on Instagram.  I don't quite know what I am doing but I am posting a link to my first photo.  My user name is "Cindy Ellison".  I hope

it works. 

http://instagram.com/p/U9A3LvjQeK/

Take care, dear readers .... back to you later.  Oh again, BTW ... the blogger photo posting "thing" is working.  At least for me today it is working.  :-) 





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Snowing in Knoxville

Today we had the most snow we have had since we moved to Knoxville from Texas in May of 2011. The cars are now creeping by the narrow road at the end of our lane, it's about 5 pm. It was a welcomed scene to be able to see it snowing while I was in the kitchen cooking. I would love to walk in the snow tonight, I have always loved to walk in the snow at night, the later the better. Patsy Cline sang a tune about these late night walks and I am in agreement with her. After midnight would be fine with me. If you haven't walked in the snow at night, you might want to try it. Even more fun is sledding at night. We had a steep hill beside our house with the perfect flood light beaming on the hill. We always had a gang out there when we were young. Here I am just sitting here with those good old memories. Oops, lights are blinking ... better publish this and get out the candles.

Look Ma' ... No Cavities!

It seems I have not had much to say lately, not on my blog anyway. I am able to post blog photos only using the HTML method and have some problems with this post. I think I will go ahead and post this anyway since I do have the photos posted ... at least I think I do. Clint and I have been working on some self-improvement projects ... ourselves. We have been dieting and we all know that is never fun. It becomes "funner" when you step on the scales and the number is going down. I got a denti$t vi$it and a visit to my doctor behind me. Whew! (I have fears about medical visits.) Since I can't space the photos, add captions or enlarge them, I am going to click on publish and be done with it. Shown are some photos I made during the last three weeks. Check out the expression on the fish on the left side. Hopefully soon I will be back on and can do a blog the way I want to do it ... correctly. About this blogger business not working, I guess one gets what they don't pay for. ;-)

Twinkle Toes Test

Such a silly photo I am posting right now. I found it on my phone, I'd forgotten about it. I made it when we were in the hotel room in Gatlinburg. I wondered why the tips of my shoes were glowing and realized it was because they had the reflective areas on them. Also, why were they glowing from reflecting light, I usually don't use flash anymore when I make a photo with my camera. Duh? I was using my phone camera and the flash mode was on. Speaking of "duh", this is about the most ridiculous post ever coming from me and I have done some very sillly ones. This nonsense here also serves as a test to see if I can post with a photo. I am doing this in a different way, using a HTML and wanted to know if it works. I have not been able to upload photos from my computer for several days. Here goes...my craziness into the great vast cyber world. .

In the Bleak Midwinter

Last Sunday Clint wanted to leave a little earlier for church.  We like to be there early, sit and relax for a few minutes and read the bulletin.  We were "proud" of ourselves when we pulled into the parking lot, Clint remarking, "We are the first ones here".

We truly were the first ones there and the only ones there!  About ten minutes before the service was to start, Clint asked me, "Is this Sunday?"  We have been messed up this year with our different holiday traditions and have been confused about some of the days.  (Maybe "daze " is a better word.)

I reminded Clint it was Sunday because we had watched Charles Stanley before we left for church and Charles is always on Sunday mornings.

When Clint asked me about the day, I was spell bound reading the bulletin about a hymn that was to be sung that morning written by Christina Rossetti.

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem. It was published posthumously in Rossetti's Poetic Works in 1904.

The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst.

Harold Darke's anthem setting of 1909 is more complex and was named the best Christmas carol in a poll of some of the world's leading choirmasters and choral experts in 2008.

Rosetti using "poetic and artistic" liberty in the poem, places Christ's birth in the bleak and cold winter of England.

My anticipation on hearing the carol waned when I also read in the bulletin that there was to be only an 11 a.m. service on this particular Sunday and here we are sitting there for the usual 8:30 a.m. service.  In our church newsletter, it clearly had stated the different schedule that Sunday. We had failed to read the newsletter since we were in Gatlinburg for Christmas.

We came on home and later in the morning I was able to hear the beautiful "In the Bleak Midwinter".



http://youtu.be/cHR9NJxj-SU

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