Neighbors

 It is "Warm Heart Wednesday" hosted by Jenny. http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/.

 It would be our first snow this winter. The weather channels forecasted 12"-18" of snow for the weekend. The snow started Friday night and continued through Saturday. on and off.  It was a light, soft snow. It was hard to measure exactly how much snow we actually received because the wind was so fierce the snow drifted.

 Tim, my husband, went out to clear our driveway and sidewalk. Our neighbor, Kevin, has a snow blower and he loves his machine! Not only does he do his sidewalk, but he does the whole block. Yes, our sidewalk was done.

 On to the driveway and our next door neighbor, Bart, comes out with his snow blower. Our driveway connects with Bart's drive. Tim and Bart, together, get the driveway done in record time!

I love my neighborhood! We have the kindest, friendliest and most helpful neighbors.

                                           A picture from our town taken by a neighbor.

Gentle Spirit

Last week, I was taking my dog, Spencer, for a walk when I saw an elderly man in the park acting strangely.  He was carrying a brown paper bag, the kind people use for a lunch bag. He would look up into the tall evergreens, peering at the different trees, until he finally stopped at one.

 He took a stick and poked at the ground. Then, he would bend and place something from his bag on the ground. I thought, maybe, he had stones in the bag and was performing some kind of spiritual meditation or was something mentally wrong with him? He didn't seem dangerous, just odd. He continued doing this for approximately 15 minutes as I walked around the park.

 He gradually left this tree and walked to another section of the park and repeated his actions: looking into the trees, finding the right tree, poking the ground with his stick, taking something from his bag, putting it under the tree and spending time arranging and rearranging whatever he had placed on the ground.

 What could he be doing?  My curiosity was getting the best of me. I walked back to the first tree to find out. There on the ground was an assortment of all kinds of nuts, each placed in a small hole in a perfect pattern under the tree. Apparently, he was looking up the trees for squirrels to feed. I should have taken a picture of the beautiful arrangement of nuts, but didn't.

 It so warmed my heart of the kindness this Gentleman was offering to the little creatures of our park. Today, he was there again. He waved and I waved back.

Warm Hearted Wednesday with Jenny  http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

The Morning Kiss

 Welcome to Warm Heart Wednesday, http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/, shared by the awesome Mrs. Jenny.

 I am almost officially retired (I only work one night a week). My husband is still working full time. He has to get up at the God awful hour of 5AM. I am a night owl, having worked night work for years I find I can not make the switch to going to bed early and getting up early. Every morning right before my husband leaves for work, as I sleep, he gives me a kiss. After 31 years of marriage he still makes me feel like a Princess waiting for her Prince to awaken her. It is the best way to start a day!

Artist Journal Swap

 Welcome to "Warm Heart Wednesday" hosted by Jenny, http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2015/11/warm-heart-wednesday.html.

 I have become very fortunate in finding on line artitsts that share my passion of art. I have joined several journal swaps over the years. I am now working in a pass created by Ayala Art (Martha)in a facebook group called "Face in The World and Other Art Projects".
https://www.facebook.com/groups/352215974885012/.

 The way it works is : you make a journal and suggest a theme, send it to the next artist, she creates a page then sends it to the next artist. It continues to all the contributors until it returns home to you. I have finished a page in Gina's journal. Her theme is " "How do you amuse your Muse?". I chose to paint Buddha not because he amuses my muse but because his words inspire my muse.

It warms my heart to be able to contribute my art to journals that travel the world and to receive the beautiful gifts of art from the other artists.

One Year Later

Today is "Warm Heart Wednesday" over at Jenny's blog, http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/. Nothing warms my heart more than the ability to be healthy and appreciative of the medical knowledge of our doctors.
On 11/25/14, exactly one year ago, I had a total hip replacement. It was the 2nd surgery on my right hip since I had fractured it on August 31, 2014. I have fully recovered and can not be more thankful  that I can walk, run, bend and do all the things that I could do before the accident.

Gratitude

 It has been 3 years since posting, but when Jennie posted the beginning of "Warm Heart Wednesday", http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2015/11/warm-heart-wednesday.html, I had to join. In a time of such world atrocities what better way to focus on the wonderful things of our lives.

 Not a small thing, but a big positive thing has happened to my my Great Grandson, Kevin. He had cranial surgery to remove part of his skull bone at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is just 8 months old and I must admit absolutely adorable! The surgery was a couple weeks ago and he is already back to his normal cute self. So thankful with a heart full of gratitude to the doctors and nurses.

Handmade Books

I have been working on making books. I have swapped books on http://milliande.ning.com/group/thehinges?xg_source=activity

Thanksgiving Flag Book

Wisdom Japanese Stab Binding

Bird Piano Hinge Book

Meandering Book Swap

I have made a 3"x 3" book for a swap Ruth was holding in the Hinges group at Milliande. I have seen beautiful art done on tea bags, since I am a coffee drinker I decided to use used coffee filters.

I fitted and adhered filters to old book pages. The pages were inked. Then I drew and painted coffee pots with a saying about coffee on the pages. I sewed the book together in a meandering fashion and off it went to Julka in Canada.

Twinchie Book Swap

Sonja over at http://milliande.ning.com"> is hosting a new twinchie book swap. She held one a couple months ago. You make 2 books then swap and get 2 in return. The first book I made was "Bird" Twinchie 2"book.

It has been a long time since I have posted. Things are good and things are not. This is life. You have to take the heartbreaking journey along with the joyous journey. Unfortunately, sometimes I let the down side of life take control and keep me from pursuing the more valuable things. I am making an effort at this time to promise myself not to let the disappointing things overtake the good things in my life. So, I go back to when I thought life was always wonderful and I didn't have a worry in the world. Almost sounds silly, but, I am loving going back in time....many years ago. <

Face 14

I am running behind, but will continue on. Sketched in pencil one night then colored with Primacolor pencils last night.

Face 11, 12,13

I'm trying to keep up with the challenge. Some days, I get a sketch done and like it just the way it is. Other times, I want to add some color.

Day 13 Pencil sketch

Day 12 added water colors and zentangles

Day 11 tough girl...colored pencil

Day 10 Face

 This is Sophia Loren. Her beauty is exceptional. Her big cat eyes, high cheek bones and luscious lips make her a one of a kind sensuous woman. It is a pencil sketch with a small amount of colored pencil added to her lips, hair, cheeks and hat.

Day 8 & Day 9 Face

I am doing a combination of one drawing for two days. The first day was sketching and adding color to the face. The next day I used pastels to fill in the background.

May 6 & May 7 Face

Not much time....pencil sketches...good exercises.

May 5 Face

For today's face, I decided to put some color to Face 1. I used Primacolor colored pencils, gel pen and pastels (background).

May 4 Face

It is funny how you start off with an idea and boom.... it just goes in another direction. I am not a huge fan of big eyed girls. I appreciate the artists' paintings, but,  it just isn't my style. So, tell me, how did today's face end up this way?????

May 3rd Face

I found this incredible site, http://facesoftheearth.tumblr.com , with the most awe inspiring photos. There are face photos from all over the world. It was a hard choiceto pick one photo, but, I wanted a profile. I found this gorgeous woman. I had to attempt it.

  She was started as a pencil sketch. I wanted to add some color. I used Primacolor colored pencils. I needed it to be more vibrant. I finished her with chalk pastels, which I am beginning to love. They require you to get your fingers into your work. The mess and feel of the chalk is mesmerizing!

May 2nd Face

The second face is a pencil sketch. Primacolor colored pencils were used to add a little bit of colorto the sketch. She is kind of hard looking... different from most faces I do.

May 1st face

My first face is a pencil sketch. I took the picture of my sketch with my cell phone, so, it is not the best. I thought I would have a little fun and use the app, Pixlr-o-matic. I added a sepia tone and framed it in the second picture.