Rainy Days and Mondays

It is so wonderful seeing water gushing out our down spout!


(Can't help but wonder what the neighbors think ... "what on earth
is she doing in the pouring rain, crouched down and making a picture?")  ☺


They don't know us very well or know we are bloggers.



The splashing rain on our patio table was most welcomed!

We were so water/rain deprived when we lived in Texas.  We read now the restrictions are back in force in Plano.   Clint says it affected him
in a psychological way, a negative way.


I will never complain again about rain messing up my hair!



It is a rainy day and a Monday.  As I have written in the captions in the above pictures, I am happy about the much needed rain on this Monday.  The Carpenter song, "Rainy Days and Mondays," has always been a favorite of mine.  One of my paintings (permanent collection) in The Knoxville Museum of Art is entitled "Rainy Days and Mondays".  There are no photos of it. :~/  The painting is of a woman looking out a window, I love the "window theme" in paintings.  I digress.  Someday Clint and I are going to the museum and inquire about it.

This morning Clint and I were saddened to learn one of the bloggers we follow, who follows our blogs, received some bad news.  She had cancer a few years ago and it has returned.  Her two recent biopsies have come back positive. She is such a courageous and brave woman to begin with, she sought The American Dream and is living it on her farm.  She appreciates what so many take for granted. She has the love and prayers of so many supporters.


I'm still sorting through things in my studio/office, getting it ready to be able to paint the walls my special "Serenity Blue" color.  Today I made an attempt to create some atmosphere in the chaotic room. 

I can't believe I found this book at Big Lots!  This box contained
a woman's journal with inspiring diary passages and 30+ paintings.
Also in the box is a CD that I have been playing today.


The  music is to "set the mood for contemplation, reading and writing."   It contains
works by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Satie and MacDowell.


Several of the paintings from this book have already
been posted on my blog.



Books, books and more books.  It is painful to have to part
with a beloved book.  I  pared down the books before we moved.
I am hoping the bookcase I'm getting will hold them all!







Another love of mine ... vintage prints.  Here are a few.  On the bottom
left is a signed Wallace Nutting hand tinted photograph.


The cupid in the oval frame is not a reproduction,
it is an actual signed photograph.





A scented candle as part of my attempt to
add a sense of serenity to this disorderly room.



A few months ago I was telling Clint I had read "Remembrance of Things
Past" by Marcel Proust was considered by many to be the most
boring book ever written.



Clint asked me why would I hang on to a book  that
 was considered the most boring in the world?  Good question.  I also think
my answer is pretty good, too.  ☺

It makes me feel good.  I just like knowing the book is around, I like the box and
the design on the box.  I like looking at the box.  There is an appreciation
for the effort that was made writing this book.

I like it simply because if for no other reason, it looks good!



Simple Saturday

Le Rendezvous c. 1920s

Harry Pearson

I am having a magnificient time, walking, looking in Paris  . . .  stopping at the Alésia for a café
crème, hot and delicious.  Reading . . .  and being dreamy.  I like this dreamy, less productive side.


         ~Gloria Bowles, June 5, 1986




                              ♣  ♣  ♣  ♣






Early last evening I was in the midst of making meat
balls when I heard Clint say,
"You've got to see this cloud".

Running to get my camera,
the cloud was even more spectacular
with the passing of a few seconds.

 I know, I do post a lot
of clouds, sunsets, sunrises.  Can't help it, I'm
 always looking up↑

It's been a quiet day at the Ellisons.  Clint has been sick most of the week, a severe cold and severe back pain at the same time!  One alone is bad enough but together has been really tough on him.  He has not been out of the house in a few days.  I was about to get concerned yesterday but felt better this morning when he said he was better. We both are very thankful he is better.  He was just saying how these things sometimes hit us out of the blue!  How well we all know the uncertainty of making plans.

One of my daughter's cats, Phoebe, died this morning while she was holding her. I know they are sad about it, they got her in 1999.  My grandson, Canyon,  made the remark, "Well, the good news is I'm still alive".  This sounds like something a six year old would say. ☺ Clint commented on Facebook that he "liked Canyon's  honest philosophy".

Trying to get caught up with my letter writing, I have some girl friends who have been writing me such nice letters (emails). (Hey Kathy and Patricia, "You've Got Mail".)  I still need to write my very talented cousin in Florida, she is an interior decorator. We are first cousins, similar in age and have a lot in common.

As I said, it is a very quiet day at the Ellisons.  Let me end this blog entry on a somber note:




With all the sadness and trauma in the world, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person that almost went unnoticed. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully last week in his sleep at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for the family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in; and then the trouble started ...

Going Grand

The RMS Titanic

Today I wanted to share a little yellowed clipping that I had saved from years ago:

Sounds of August

Oops, there are only a few hours left of August and I almost didn't get my "Sounds of August" blog

posted.  I came up with this idea at the beginning of August, one evening when I stepped outside

on our deck. I remarked to Clint, "It sounds like August!" What a symphony!  I wonder how many critters/insects compose this orchestra?  I can't think of another month that has such a distinct sound.

A few weeks ago I ran across a verse by William Wordsworth and knew I had to include it in this blog.  The verse is from "Lines Written in Early Spring, 1888" :

I heard a thousand blended notes

While in a grove I sat reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant

Thoughts bring sad thoughts to the mind.



The scene this August morning from our front porch.
I was resting after my two miles and admiring the trees
silhouetted against the foggy layers in the background.







  

Sounds of August would have to include those of the county fair.  The county fair
was very important to our family.  This photo is of my grandmother, she was very active in the
fair.  My grandfather in his retirement years became the "Fair Manager".


My uncles played guitar at the Senior Citizen Day held each year at the fair.  There were competitions
for hog calling, jigg dancing, best decorated bonnet, etc. 

My grandmother tells the story of my brother entering his pet rabbit to be judged.  This paragraph is in the above article:

Dot laughs about the time her grandson entered his pet rabbit in the judging.  He won first place and the delighted little boy watched the judge put a blue ribbon on the cage.  Smiles turned to tears the next morning, though, when it was discovered that the rabbit had eaten the ribbon!  A kindly judge replaced it with another and all ended well.





My mother's Blue Ribbon chocolate fudge recipe.  This is a favorite
in my family and we had to have it every Christmas.







Terrible quaility of photo but am using it because
I couldn't find another one of my fair entries with ribbons.



I usually worked in the art entries at the fair.

The Fairest of the Fair.  I am number 8, number 14 was crowned
the Fairest!

  

My grandmother, grandfather and some cousins were featured in an Emmy Award winning series, The Heartland Series, that ran for years on WBIR in Knoxville, TN.  This series was hosted and produced by Bill Landry.  The episode that featured them was filmed where else but at the county fair!

Highway Patrol

Broderick Crawford, starring as
Dan Mathews in "Highway Patrol".

A few months ago I ran across this old booklet based on the popular old TV series, "Highway Patrol". I am showing a few illustrations from the book, they are rather humorous to me. I loved this old program and can still remember the theme "song".  It was different seeing a gruff and older middle aged man instead of the "pretty boy" types for a change. A change I actually liked! 

The show was popular during its four years of first run syndication during the years of 1955-1959. 

Today there are hundreds of possible TVs shows/movies to watch but for some reason, I can't find a thing to watch!  Why is it I loved the old shows when we had only 2 or 3 channels?  Fuzzy black and white, too!

 Broderick Crawford was born in 1911 and died in 1986. 




More detail from this is pictured below ...

 

Dan left hungry but soon he had so many problems that
thoughts of breakfast were driven from his mind.

 [ Cindy's words, not Dan's ;~)   ]

Some good advice from "Dan" ... best part of video only lasts about 30 seconds, I promise!

If



Portrait of Natalia Pietrunkevic 1893

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge



 

Sunday Morning

This morning my sister, daughter, son-n-law and grandson
came for breakfast.  It was so good to get together and to
live close to family after all the years of being away. 



It's been a while since  we've had
sausage balls.

Cheese grits are a big hit!

This is the first time we have eaten on our new dining
room table.  We were comfortable and it felt so good
to be together. 

Canyon said the blessing, got a little "stage fright" but was
able to say one. 

(Changing the subject)

I've fallen and I can't get up!  All  jokes aside,
I have fallen down on the job of getting my studio/office in
shape.  I've got to tackle this tomorrow! 



(Camera shy Cindy)


This morning I didn't get my picture made, I was the photographer
as usual.  This picture was made a few weeks ago.