The Red Painted Cottage

House Hunting

2012-02-26T08:30:00.001-05:00

He who is contented is rich.
Lao Tzu

Now that you know what Casey Key is like, why don't we go house hunting. Sounds good to me! This first one looks like a typical Florida house, with additional square footage, and a few other items that might put it into the $5,000,000 range or more...

The wood door you see on this next one is actually the "gate" to their yard. And the following photo of the "window opening" is actually in their concrete fence and is all part of the same architecture...

I don't know about you, but I would love to take a peek inside of this next one and see the decor...

Yup, this one is really for sale. I'm sure it's at least $3,000,000 or more.

I love the Key West looking houses, but I'm thinking this one is a bit out of our range.

In fact, as Mr. Cottage and I were driving on Casey Key, we spotted this little place and we determined immediately that we couldn't even afford this one. It's probably at least $2,000,000 or more because it was on the Gulf...

I don't even think we could afford the rent on this little outbuilding we saw.

On second thought, I'm going to pass up house hunting on Casey Key. Even if we won the lottery, we still couldn't afford to live there because we wouldn't be able to keep up with the taxes.

Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous

2012-02-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson

The first time we were on Casey Key was a few years ago. I was in awe of the drive down the Key, so much so that I had Mr. Cottage go back north again on the Key so I could take in everything, including the really cool mailbox I saw, but once we got close enough and he could stop I realized it was a mailbox cover. I still like it and maybe it can give me ideas to use in other ways...

FYI, both Stephin King and Stephen Spielberg each have a house on Casey Key. Martina Navratilova use to have one there until the breakup with her "wife". This is a very narrow Key and because of that, the houses sit much closer to the road and you can actually see into some of them. The thing that amazes Mr. Cottage and I are how many houses are vacant and only their lawn service or housekeepers are living in them or caring for them while their owners are living in other parts of the world.

To get to Casey Key you have to cross over the intercoastal waterway by going across a small drawbridge...

There's lush folage and colorful flowers in front on many of the properties...

The only road that goes from one end to the other end of Casey Key is EXTREMELY narrow. It wouldn't be so bad if it were just a straight road, but in many places it curves almost to 90 degrees...

The view is really beautiful for those who live across the street from the Gulf...

When we left the island from the north end, we encountered a swingbridge, which we had to stop for.

Lovely location, wouldn't you agree?

Nokomis Beach

2012-02-24T08:30:00.001-05:00

The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears, or the sea.
Isak Dinesen

Now that we have only a month to go before heading north again, I told Mr. Cottage that we need to have a date day each week until we leave. For whatever reason this year, both Mr. Cottage and I have been busy doing a lot within our RV park and not going out as much as I would like to do. We don't have my nice Jeep Liberty for ME to drive down here, OH NO!! We have Mr. Cottage's HUGE truck!! Once we leave the RV park, Mr. Cottage is usually the one to do the driving with all the horrendous traffic here. I wanted to go to Calico Corners to find some nice raspberry color fabric for me to take home and make a throw pillow for our family room chair. I found a very pretty raspberry fabric which looks like a brushed denim, but I had to end up ordering it and it will ship to our RV. Fortunately, everything in their store was 20% off. Not far from Calico Corners was Nokomis Beach. We have never been there before because we always seem to go either to Siesta Key or Lido Beach.

I just have to show you some of the wonderful photos I took while on the beach.

A seagull in flight...

Pelicans resting on the water...

What colorful beach umbrellas...

I love how I captured this wave coming in to shore...

And finally, ta ta...I was able to get my feet wet...

Thursday's Ramblings, A HodgePodge

2012-02-23T08:30:00.001-05:00

"If you don't like the emotional experience you're having, change your mind"

-- Peter Russel

I've been thinking about this for some time now and have decided to start a new series with my blog called Thursday's Ramblings. It might be about a little of this or a little of that; or it might be just my thoughts about something or another. OR, it might even be a hodgepodge of ideas, photos or whatever. So for my first Thursday's Ramblings I've decided to share with you some of my photos that I've taken in the past, but truly love them and feel I need to share them with the world and not just for myself.

My father was a WWII veteran and when he died in 1990, we honored his wish to be interred at Arlington Cemetery. A couple of years ago, on our way home, we went up the east coast to see our son and his family who live in VA. While there, we took a couple of side trips, one of which was to Arlington. It's really something to see, especially if you've never been there before...

We also went to the Natural History Museum, which is part of the Smithsonian. There was a special exhibit on the top floor of winning photography photos. This one really caught my eye and just grabbed me. I think it's because I could really see the love in this mother's eyes for her little one...

Because the American History Museum was being renovated at the time, there was a special room in the National Air and Space Museum which housed various items from the American Museum. I don't know about you, but I was and still am a HUGE Seinfeld fan. Remember the puffy shirt?...

When our oldest son, from VA, came to visit us a few years ago, they got this kennel for Mercedes, their large Weimaraner. Our grandkids were fooling around and decided to go inside, thinking this was really "cool"...

Time flies and now to the almost present, they were visiting us this past year and playing with our Wii. I have the Just Dance 2, which is what they were doing. I just love this photo of them...

And for the last one, it's grandma and her little granddaughter on the shore of Lake Michigan...

Catch Up

2012-02-22T08:30:00.001-05:00

Go after your dreams. Don't wait for things to come. Make them happen.
Unknown

I know I've mentioned how busy I've been. I mean I was SO busy that I haven't had time to paint, do any of my online classes or hardly time to even get to the pool. That is being just TOO busy! Finally, things are slowing down enough for me to finally play catch up. Yesterday I showed you what I had worked on and this evening I spent a lot of time going over some of my lessons from my Hello Soul Hello Business e-course. This is a 10 week course and this week and next are what they are calling "breather weeks". The first four weeks had to do with our dreams (no, not our night time dreaming!) So by the time the course starts again, I'm hoping to be caught up. In addition, I still have my She Art canvases to finish and not one, but TWO watercolor paintings to complete.

I found the following quote from here...

Now that Valentine's week is over and things are returning to normal, I'm really enjoying all that I've got to do because it revolves around my dreams and passion. Don't we all wish we could just do what we enjoyed without all the other "stuff" getting in our way? What about you, what are your dreams or passions and are you able to find time for them?

A productive day

2012-02-21T08:30:00.001-05:00

There is no greater harm than that of wasted time.
Michelangelo

After a terribly busy week, I have finally had time to get back into my groove of painting and creating. I'm in somewhat of a time crunch. I signed up for the She Art Workshop back in September, but I really haven't had much time to work on it. It's an online art course and I have up to 6 months to access it. Well, if you do the math, my 6 months are almost up and I'm bound and determined not to let this class go to waste. Her website says I have three months, but after I contacted her she reassured me that I had 6 full months. I'm going to show you the three canvases I've been working on, but keep in mind that they're not finished because I still have the girls to do on each of them. This first one is nice and bright...

Keep in mind I'm putting a girl on this, but for right now look closely and I swear you'll see what looks like a wine bottle...

This last one I used old music paper and maps...

I also completed two 6 inch canvases...

It made for a very happy and productive day for me!

Trailer Trash

2012-02-20T08:30:00.002-05:00

A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself.
~Frances Ward Weller

We've been coming to the same location in Florida for seven full winters and during all this time we have met so many wonderful and close friends. A few years ago, a group of us went out to dinner to a place called Linger Lodge. It's located along the Braden River and is considered as Old Florida. As we got closer, we past some of their campground area and saw some trailers and RV's, some nice and some not so nice. After we got into the restaurant, Barb made a comment that Mr. Cottage and I have never forgotten. She said that we have all achieved our goal of now officially becoming trailer trash. Keep in mind that our entire group of friends were all from the same RV resort in Sarasota and we were all living in motor homes, trailers or fifth-wheel RV's for the winter. We all broke out in laughter after she said this. Only a true and wonderful friend would make a comment like this to all of us! The photo shown below is of Mr. Cottage at Linger Lodge...

The entire restaurant was filled with reptiles and other "stuff" that were no longer alive. A very different kind of place!

One thing we loved doing with this particular group of friends was to drive to the Ringling Bridge where we parked our cars and then walked over the bridge and back again, always near sunset...

Mr. Cottage is in front with the hat on backwards and I'm next to him in the bright orange...

The view from the bridge...

And finally, another beautiful sunset as seen from the bridge!

A good musical comedy

2012-02-19T15:52:00.000-05:00

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

William Shakespeare

Last evening, Mr. Cottage and I, went to one of the oldest dinner theatres in the country right here in Sarasota. We were to meet our friends downtown about 45 minutes before the doors opened. However, there was a fine arts show taking place on Main Street for both yesterday and today; and we just knew we would have to leave much earlier to find parking. We got there in plenty of time to see some of the art before the show closed at 5 pm.

This would look wonderful hanging in a screened lanai by a pool...

Beautiful glass, I can't even imagine creating any of this...

Just because...

All three of these lovely "girls" were dressed to kill. I asked their owner if I could take their photo and she allowed me to do so, telling me that because they're girls they love to dress up.

We finally made it to the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre were we saw the play Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. All the songs were written by Neil Sedaka. Music and singing was good, humor was funny, food delicious and a good time was had with our friends.

Ca'd'Zan Mansion

2012-02-18T12:09:00.000-05:00

Art should not be purchased to fill a space on a wall nor to match the color of your drapes, but to fill an emotional space in your heart.
Tommy Thompson

Sarasota was the winter home, for many years, of the Ringling Brothers Circus. John and Mabel Ringling owned a beautiful mansion on Sarasota Bay, called Ca'd'Zan. You can find more about their home and art that they collected right here. Part of their estate is now a museum of their wonderful art collection. Every third Thursday of the month, the terrace of the Ca'd'Zan is open to the general public. Cocktails and food is sold on the terrace, which overlooks the Bay. We went with our good friends and after mingling around on the terrace, we walked a bit on the beautiful grounds along the bay.

I was fascinated to see all the bamboos because I spent many years weaving baskets made from the reed of bamboos...

Mr. Cottage's sense of humor came out in full force...

And finally the end of a beautiful evening...

A Very Busy Week

2012-02-17T08:30:00.001-05:00

An ugly personality destroys a pretty face.
Norma Kennedy

This has been a crazy busy week for me. I started on Monday by taking another scarf painting class. I also painted a small canvas for the Fly Tribe Blog Hop. Tuesday was the Pickleball Tournament that Mr. Cottage was in, I had signed up for a 4-5 hour watercolor workshop, which I had to leave a tad early because....I had to be to our happy hour group for a Valentines dinner by about 4:30. We had food galore and, Marvin, did up 36 pounds worth of prime rib on his grill for everyone in our group. It was beyond delicious!! By nights end, both Mr. Cottage and I were exhausted. Yesterday was another watercolor class, today I went to the printers and tonight we have the Pickleball Potluck where the awards will be given out. And the weeks not over yet. So much is going on for Saturday, too. Whew, am I making you tired yet? I told you we rest up when we're back home in Michigan. We have a much slower pace of living back north.

These are the two scarves I painted on Monday.

Which of these two do you like?

Sneak Peek

2012-02-16T08:02:00.000-05:00

"We should remember that a picture -- before being a war horse, a nude woman, or telling some other story -- is essentially a flat surface covered with colours arranged in a particular pattern."
--Maurice Denis

I mentioned in my blog posting yesterday that I wasn't really able to watch Mr. Cottage very much during the tournament he was in because I was in a special watercolor workshop. The workshop was taught by Jerome Chesley, a wonderful artist who lives in the Sarasota area. I thought I would give you a sneak peek on what I was painting...

Obviously, you can see that it's a house with a covered porch; but you'll have a little wait before I can show you my completed painting. But I promise you that I will reveal it to you as soon as I know I'm finished with it.

While we're at this, I'll show you another one I started yesterday. I know I won't finish it for a few more weeks (so many other paintings and mixed media I'm working on), BUT anyone have any guesses as to what it is??

These are both going to take PATIENCE on your part so see the completed paintings because it's going to take PATIENCE on me to complete them both.

Hooray Mr. Cottage

2012-02-15T08:30:00.001-05:00

The 5 Ss of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.
-Ken Doherty
For the second year in a row, Mr. Cottage has taken 1st place in the parks Pickleball Tournament. Yes, you heard me correctly...P I C K L E B A L L. I'm sure most of you have never heard of this sport, but believe it or not it is an up and coming sport across the country. You can find out more about it here. It's like tennis, but played on a slightly smaller court with paddles and a whiffle ball. It's very fast paced. For the tournament you are either in the advanced skilled or the lower skilled level. Last year, Mr. Cottage was in the lower level and he and his partner placed first. This year, Mr. Cottage was in the advanced skilled level and I found out he took first place again. I wasn't able to stay and watch him because I had signed up for a special watercolor workshop which was held today. I did manage to get a few photos of him playing with his partner...Mr. Cottage has the orange paddle and is getting ready to serve...

Thursday night will be the Pickleball potluck and awards will be given out. WAY TO GO MR. COTTAGE! If you're interested, do a google search and see if there's any organized pickleball being played near you. We have it here in Florida, but we also have it back home in Michigan.

Happy Valentines!

2012-02-13T21:57:00.001-05:00

"Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us."
Roy Adzak

My Fly Tribe is having a Love for Art Blog Party today. In honor of this wonderful group of artist friends and Valentines, I created a special piece of art just for this blog hop...

After all, isn't Valentines all about LOVE and our theme for our blog is about LOVE. I'm going to keep this short because I want you to spend time checking out everyone else's blogs. Just click on Fly-Tribe Love Of Art Blog Party where you'll find an easy link to everyone else's blogs. Happy Hopping!

9 years ago

2012-02-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain

It seems just like yesterday that I traveled to Japan three different times to stay and visit with our oldest son and his wife. Mr. Cottage said he didn't want to go, so I traveled there and back by myself, which is no big deal for me. I grew up in a family that loved to travel, unlike Mr. Cottage. I like to take advantage of every opportunity I can to travel and take in what our wonderful world and our country has to offer all of us.

It was 9 years ago this month that I made my second trip to Japan. A few days after arriving, our middle son (the techie) also flew over and joined me. We all went to the Ginza district in downtown Tokyo where our techie son went wild with Sony. We all saw technology back in 2003 that just made it to the USA only within the past few years.

There's so many different and unusual architecture which blew my mind away. This is one of them...

I'm not one to buy tacky souvenirs on any trip that I take. On our walk to Chinatown in
Yokohama, we stopped at a doll shop where I found these Russian-made dolls that I had to take back home with me. The photo doesn't show it, but the smallest size isn't much larger than a pea.

I'm just so thankful that I went when I did. Have you ever regretted a missed opportunity to take advantage of a once in a lifetime event? Believe it or not, but I have a few missed regrets but as am getting older, I'm not going to let them slip by me if I can help it.

Do What You Love

2012-02-12T20:07:00.000-05:00

It is never too late to become what we might have been.
George Eliot

The RV park we stay at in Florida has laundromats within it for us to use and they all have a small library for our convenience. We can take out books and magazines on an honor system. The other day I found a book which seemed worthy of me taking back to our RV.

I'm in a couple of private facebook groups with other artists. Every now and then someone, who is about my age or a tad younger, will make comments about whether or not they may be too old to try this new creative journey. I wish they could all see and read through this book.

Some of the chapters are entitled "Follow Your Passions", "Start A Business", "Dream On And Achieve Your Goals" and "Do What You Love".

I just have to keep remembering about Grandma Moses and how old she was when she started painting. Just ask yourself, "if not now, then when?" and JUST GO FOR IT!!

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A view of Florida

2012-02-11T14:00:00.006-05:00

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you hear about the state of Florida, what comes to your mind? Hurricanes, heat, humidity, alligators, a place where the old retire to ....did I say ALLIGATORS?? One of the watercolor classes I'm taking is basically a sharing of ideas taught by one another. The only male in our class was going to teach us about painting an alligator. When I first heard this I immediately thought UGH! For over a week I went back and forth about whether I wanted to go and paint this creature. I finally decided I would take the class. It wasn't necessarily about the alligator so much as it was about learning more techniques about drawing and painting.

I have to honestly say, that I have never traced anything onto my watercolor papers. I like to do my own sketching and sometimes I have to keep erasing and keep sketching to get it in the right proportions.

Owen, the only male in our class, had gone to Mayaka State Park where he took a tram ride and saw one of the largest and oldest alligators in the park, per the tram driver. As usual, I took forever to complete my painting, wanting to get it just right.

The background is showing all the vines and heavy brush that are in the park. Have you ever seen an alligator up close? They really are a rather bland color and can easily blend into the background. In less than two weeks, Mr. Cottage and I, along with Molly, will be driving from Sarasota to Key West to visit some friends of ours. The only way to get there, from here, is to drive through what is known as alligator alley. I-75 goes through the Everglades and everyone knows that it's filled with alligators, as well as snakes and other yucky creatures. I will be taking my camera along and hope to show some photos after we return. FYI, the length of the alligator's snout, in inches, equals the length in feet that he is. Now I want to know, do you really want to go and measure his nose to determine how long he really is?

Patience is a virtue

2012-02-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”
- Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Most Tuesdays and Wednesday afternoons, I go to watercolor classes in our RV park. These classes are all taught by volunteers, some by former professionals and others who were self-taught.

Our Wednesday class is only 2 1/2 hours long. I have never finished a painting in that length of time. Whenever I look around to see what others are painting, it's amazing to me to see how many have nearly finished their paintings and some who have finished theirs. Then I look back at mine and see how little I've achieved. I think with me, it's all about patience.

I've always had this attitude that if I'm going to make or do something, take your time and do it right and to your satisfaction. So yesterday I spent most of the afternoon working on my painting from Wednesday. I was pretty happy with it, but then this morning I took the brush to it again until I knew it was the way I really wanted it.

Now I'm happy with it and so glad I took my time. How about you? Do you want it here and now or are you willing to wait?

Happy But Not Happy?

2012-02-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward

I got hooked on Stampington Magazines this summer and for the heck of it I searched on the internet to see where I might be able to purchase it when we got down to Sarasota. I have one subscription, but I like going into the stores back home and deciding if I want a certain issue or not. I found out there was a scrapbooking store not too far from where we stay in Florida.

I finally called the other day to see if they carried some rubber stamps that I was looking for. The girl on the phone said she wasn't sure and that they would be closing this Saturday. CLOSING? AS IN PERMANENTLY? Yes, she told me and that everything has been marked down as far as they could go.

So I got myself over to their store yesterday only to discover that there was practically nothing left. I found out the sale had been going on for about a month. I frantically searched the remaining items to see if there was anything I could use in my mixed media. I'm also taking an online class with Christy Tomlinson called She Art Workshop 1 & 2 in which I create girls on canvas. So for these classes I needed to find some smaller print paper that would make good dresses and pants.

I found three sheets of paper and vintage stamps...

And some acrylic stamps and rubons...

Then I spotted two large boxed on a table full of scrapbooking paper. I asked her how much these were and she told me that they were all FREE. FREE? Oh my, I just had a go of it and look what all I found...

Even though I didn't see any, I still asked her about Stampington Magazines. She told me they had stopped carrying them for a few months because they just weren't selling. WEREN'T SELLING?? My Fly Tribe FB friends would all be having a heart attack if they heard this. Most of them love Stampington's. The girl at the shop said that with the economy the way it is, the prices for them were much too high and that most people couldn't afford them. I almost had to agree, because I could buy a really good novel for the price of one magazine. But it is so full of good ideas and info for me, that it's almost worth what I pay for them.

I had a bit of mixed feelings when I left. I had found some items that were either free or nearly free, BUT now they would be closing shop and there were none around. Other than Michael's and Joann's Fabric and Crafts, that's it for Sarasota. No Hobby Lobby and no other scrapbooking stores. She told me the closest ones are in Englewood or St. Petersburg, either one being too far too drive to. Just Sad!

Moments with Molly...Molly's Cousins

2012-02-08T14:00:00.001-05:00

A house is not a home until it has a dog.

Gerald Durrell

All three of our sons grew up with dogs. We have always had dogs in our family, beginning with a Miniature Schnauzer. Along the way we had several German Shorthaired Pointers, a Bassett Hound and a few others. So it was no surprise when all of them wanted dogs of their own.

Molly's oldest cousin is Mercedes, a Weimaraner. Our oldest son recently got a Hungarian Vizsla which they named Izabella. Both of them live with our two oldest grandchildren. Ahh, aren't puppies cute!

Next up is Hoover, a beautiful Bassett Hound. Molly is fortunate to see Hoover a lot because Mr. Cottage and I dog sit her whenever our son does videography for weddings. Just look into her eyes and you melt with love for her...

Hoover is fortunate to have such loving parents who purchased a huge bed for her, which resembles a couch...Another Ahhh!

And finally we have Emmy and Edie. They are both English Pointers and rescued dogs. Our little grandson, Corbin, gets to play mostly with Emmy. Edie is a bit on the hyper side and kind of does her own thing. Emmy is on the left and Edie is on the right...

This is Corbin when he was a few months old, already falling in love with Emmy...and obviously, Emmy is loving him too! Let's have one more Ahhh!

Introducting Mister Owl

2012-02-07T14:00:00.001-05:00

Thoughts become things...choose the good ones!
Unknown

I have had this idea in my head for many months, like since last fall! I kept envisioning an owl with a bird on it's head and the front breast of the owl had a very textured feathered look. Well, he has finally arrived pretty much as I had envisioned.

Mister Owl is my first real attempt at creating art using mixed media on canvas. Earlier in the fall, I went to a local farmer's market in Michigan and purchased some beautiful homemade paper that was produced by a wonderful artist. I did a posting on it called The Mother Lode. Long story short, that is what I used for the front of Mister Owl. I just knew I would find some really creative ways to use these wonderful papers.

After finishing Mister Owl, I showed him to Mr. Cottage and asked what he thought about it. Mr. Cottage reassured me that I did a wonderful job and yes, he really liked it, BUT he still didn't understand about the bird being on the owls head. I told him he wasn't suppose to understand it, it's there because I put it there and as an artist I can just do whatever I want. Needless to say, I know Mr. Cottage is proud of what I create. The other day, just in a normal conversation in our happy hour group, he was bragging about the pumpkinseed bluegill fish I had painted on our cottage hamper. Next thing I knew, I was taking Mary Beth and Jim back to our RV to show them the photo on our computer...

I think you'll be seeing more of Mister Owl and other birds down the road with my art.

Another year older

2012-02-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
~Chili Davis

Mr. Cottage had another birthday today, which is a good thing! He never likes to have a fuss made over his birthdays, but being married to me doesn't always allow him to celebrate it quietly. I decided to order a large cake for his birthday because we have a group of friends that we meet regularly with for 'happy hour'. I informed most of them yesterday so they would all try and make an effort to be there today. At our appointed time, however, Mother Nature had other ideas...such as a bit of rain. Fortunately it was short lived and not as bad as it could have been so we were still able to meet, eat, drink and sing "Happy Birthday".

Mr. Cottage is a huge Tom Clancy fan. So I had ordered the newest one for his birthday as soon as it was released and had kept it hidden in our RV.

Hopefully, he'll have enough reading to do for awhile because he brought another Tom Clancy book from back home that he hadn't read yet. Two big Tom Clancy books! Better start reading, Mr. Cottage, and by the way, hope you had a great day today!

Homework?

2012-02-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

Follow your intuition, always.
Unknown

On January 16 I started taking a 9 week online class called The Business Soul Sessions: Where Passion Meets Profit. I briefly wrote about this the day our class began. One of our first homework assignments was to envision our business (as it is today) as a person. We could use art and/or words to describe this person. Now, keep in mind that I'm suppose to be retired...Right? But I have this real deep desire to paint and create and somewhere along the way I got the brainstorm that maybe, just maybe...I could sell some of my paintings to help supplement this fixed income thing that Mr. Cottage and I both have. So I thought I would share what I created in my own journal for this assignment. I named my business Annie, after Annie Oakley because I knew she was suppose to be a strong and determined woman.

There were a few words I had written down that I shared with my class and my artist friends, but I really feel were a bit private to share on my blog, so I blurred them out....SORRY!

I also came up with another page of descriptive words in my journal for this assignment.

This has been a very intensive course and with my schedule and social life, I have to honestly say that I'm now just a tad behind. But I've been keeping up with others in the class through a special facebook group and I'm so happy to know that I'm not alone. Fortunately, many of the audios, lessons and worksheets have been downloaded and saved for me to do at a later time...like maybe when we return to Michigan and our social life slows down a bit.

Better late than never

2012-02-04T21:34:00.000-05:00

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
~Marcel Proust

I know I'm two days late, but February 2 would have been my parents 66th wedding anniversary. I could always remember the date because my mother always reminded me that they married on Groundhog Day. My parents are on the right side of this photo, with my father being the tallest. This photo was taken on their wedding day and the woman on the opposite end is one of my father's sister.

Unfortunately, I lost my father in 1990 and my mother in 2007. She never lived to see little Corbin, but she did see her other two great-grandchildren. Here she is with them several months before she died...

I had even mentioned the other day to Mr. Cottage that "today would have been their 66th wedding anniversary". Bottom line, my parents were wonderful parents to both my sister and I and I have wonderful memories of them.

Just growing so fast!

2012-02-03T23:10:00.000-05:00

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.
~Alex Haley

Our youngest grandchild, Corbin, will be 1 year old next month. I just can't believe how fast this past year has gone. When they're that young they change so quickly. We last saw him on Thanksgiving when everyone came to our house. I think he wanted to checkout our coffee table and see how it tasted...

Our daughter-in-law, Erin, is from Australia. So for Christmas, our youngest son, his wife, Erin, and little Corbin all flew to Australia for three weeks to spend time with her family. Since they returned, we've received a few really cute photos of him...

Labor Day weekend, our other two grandchildren came with their parents to visit all of us; and at that time, all three of the grandkids had their photos taken together...

Once we leave to head north again , we're going to go up the east coast so we can see our other two grandchildren, who we also miss a lot. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all and being able to hug them and play with all of them. I just can't believe how fast they're all growing!

Friends from our past

2012-02-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

It's the worst part of seeing old friends; when your rose-colored memories become undone by reality.
Brad Meltzer

Time goes much too fast and in that process we wonder the big WHO? WHAT? WHEN? We got into boating a number of years ago and practically lived at our marina in the fair weather months. Our boys literally grew up on sailboats. They could stay down below, in the roughest of seas, and play in the V-berth for hours without any motion sickness. During those years, we met a lot of wonderful boating people. One such couple was Tom and Joyce. They had a 36 foot sailboat and we had a 30 foot sailboat. We would often go out on each other's boats and when tied up at the docks, we would socialize on each other's boats. We stayed in boating for approximately 13 years. But time marched on, all our kids grew older and life got in the way of our friendship, or so it seems. Some way, some how we seemed to drift further and further apart.

I think one of the last times we saw them was right after the wedding of our oldest son, about 14 years ago. Tom and Joyce were much older than us and so they retired and moved down to Florida. We communicated through our once-a-year Christmas cards, and even though we kept giving our phone numbers and about getting together, it never seemed to happen.

Then much to my surprise I received a call in early January from Joyce. OMG, what a surprise! We decided right then and there to make a date and location to meet for lunch. Needless to say, today was that day.

Mr. Cottage and I arrived early to Marina Jack's Restaurant and strolled a bit, taking in and reminiscing about our boating days. And then we saw them sitting on a bench waiting for us to arrive. We had a wonderful lunch and wonderful water views, but we spent more time chit chatting than looking out of the window.

Next thing we knew it was time for us to leave, but we promised that we would get together with each other next winter when we come back down to Florida.

Just Get With It!

2012-02-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road.
Stewart Brand
I'm happy to announce that I've joined in with millions of others and just purchased my first iPhone. I received it the other day and yesterday our middle son called and asked about it. I told him we were going tomorrow to get it activated. ACTIVATED??? Didn't I know that I didn't have to go back to the cell phone store and that I could activated it myself? He told me that a 5 or 6 year old could do it, it was that easy! OUCH!! At the time he called, we were with a group of friends and I told them what he said. They all, almost in unison, said to "wait and go to the store tomorrow". I told our son I would call him later.

Little did I realize that once I called him, that was the beginning of me getting my phone activated. He asked me to call him back on Mr. Cottage's cell phone. I told him at the beginning of our conversation that I had removed it from the box but the plastic was still on it and I hadn't really touched it or done anything with it. I was just going to take it to the store and let them do everything for me. Once everything was a GO, he asked me to make a call on my old cell phone. To my amazement, there was no longer any service. But when he called me on my new iPhone4s I could barely hear him. We went through all kinds of maneuvers to try and get the volume louder, but nothing really worked....and then....I remembered about the plastic still being on the phone. Could that thin piece of plastic really make that big a difference in the volume? Yes, it sure did!

Our middle son is our go to techie. He started his own business and built both of his own computers and he designed and developed his own website. If you have nothing better to do, check out his business at Icon Filmworks and see his great web designing. We're very proud of him, as well as our other two wonderful sons.

Thanks, Mikey!

A reason to eat chocolatre

2012-01-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
Charles M Schulz

I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate! If given a choice, I would have truffles several times a day. Mmm good! But because we have limited funds, as most people do, I usually buy my chocolates in our grocery store. One of the brands of chocolate I like is Dove. In addition to being yummy, all of the individual wrappers contain inspirational words and phrases which I like to read after opening them. About a year ago I started collecting and saving some of the wrappers.

I mentioned that I'm starting mixed media and I thought some of these words and/or phrases may be able to be used in some form with my art.

I've collected quite a few of them so far. Now if only they could make them available without the calories, that would be even better!

Distressing with beeswax

2012-01-30T09:57:00.000-05:00

If I create from the heart nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.
Marc Chagall

I don't know why it is, but lately I'm reading about beeswax everywhere I look. So I thought maybe I would show you a technique I learned a few years ago that is so easy that I just know you're going to want to try it.

A number of years ago I found a really nice paddle at a flea market. It was worn right down to the bare wood, so that meant I wouldn't have to worry about sanding any paint or varnish off before painting it. It hung in our cottage until I found my inspiration for it. But just before painting, I read an article about how to distress wood using beeswax. All you have to do is take a stick of beeswax and randomly make marks on your wood. Then paint as you normally would, but before sealing it, take an old white cloth and rub the paint off that is over the beeswax. It's really easy to see where you had place all of your beeswax. I mean, how easy is that! No sanding!

My end result...

After doing this on our paddle and having so much fun with it, I decided to repaint an older lamp that I wanted to use in my studio. This time, I primed it;, but I randomly painted small areas to look like it might be raw wood. Then I used my beeswax again to randomly mark where my lamp might look distressed. I painted it, let it dry really well, and then rubbed the paint off the beeswax.

Before...

After...oh, my!

St. Armand's Art Show

2012-01-29T13:00:00.002-05:00

It's not our art, but our heart that's on display.

Gary Holland

For the past few years we have enjoyed going to the St. Armand's Art Show to see some very fine quality works of art. St. Armand's is on an island (or key as it's called here in Florida). It's actually a huge circle that you can drive around in your car. The circle is really a park, but it is filled with white canopy's during this art show. The booths go all around the outer circle and there are paths that lead to an inner circle. There are approximately 150 exhibitors from across the country. The photo below shows Sarasota Bay and St. Armand's is located across from it.

The next two photos where taken from the inner circle...

This is a fine art show, with really high quality works of art and with really high prices that go right along with them. Needless to say, we don't purchase anything, but we do like to go and look.

This next one is painted on rice paper. It's impossible to see from this photo, but it was really spectacular in person and almost looked three dimensional.

Read carefully and you'll see these boats and water scenes were painted and not photos...

It seems like there are several shows every weekend in this area and it's nearly impossible to go to all of them. I'll be posting other photos over the next few months showing more shows that we'll be going to so you can see some other great works of art.

Something a bit different

2012-01-28T19:14:00.000-05:00

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
Jim Rohn

The other day I learned how to paint a silk scarf. Joan, a fellow artist here in our RV park, held a special class to show about 15 of us how to go about and paint one. She offered two methods, one where you just put the paint on and let it do it's thing; and the other one, used a liquid (called a resist) to apply to your silk and form a design of your choosing. After this liquid dried, then we could paint. Well, I just had to try the second method because it seemed more challenging and I knew I would learn from it.

If you look really close at either of the two photos, you'll see all kinds of goofs that happened with my scarf. But by trying this, I will know what to do or not do the next time.

And there will be a next time...I really enjoyed the process and will definitely be painting more of them!

Just Like Christmas, Almost!

2012-01-27T14:01:00.000-05:00

"Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives, and remembering what one receives."
Alexandre Dumas Pere
I just received my January ATC cards from our Flygirls Artist Trading Group. I think there were about 25 of us who made and sent in our cards to the hostess. She then dispersed what she received and sent them all out to those of us who participated. Janet, our hostess, wrote up a nice note for each of us and included a print of one of her ATC cards.

This is from Jill...

From Connie...

And from Janet...

Gee, the backs of them were almost as pretty as their fronts (almost, but not quite)...

Thank you girls, these were wonderful. Love them all!!

Go Ahead, Be Brave

2012-01-26T12:58:00.000-05:00

Courage is tiny pieces of fear all glued together.
~Terri Guillemets

I know you saw my ATC card with the little birdie on it, the other day. I decided to submit it to The Brave Girls Club and believe it or not....my little bird was featured on their site http://bravegirlsclub.com/dailytruths/jan2512.htm. For those of you not familiar with The Brave Girls Club, you must check it out. The Brave Girls Club is for EVERY girl and woman and it is beyond wonderful.

I think I might have mentioned that I'm currently enrolled in a 9 week online e-course called Hello Soul, Hello Business taught by Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nichols. The other day, they had an interview with Melony Ross, who founded The Brave Girls Club, along with her sister, Kathy.

They started The Brave Girls Club in 2009 and it has grown to over 20,000 members, worldwide. What they have created is absolutely phenomenal! They encourage us to live the happiest, most productive and brave life that we can. They offer online e-course, daily emails which will inspire you, and they also offer a retreat in the Idaho Rocky Mountains, which I would love to attend someday. To find out more about the who, what, why and to join, just go to http://www.bravegirlsclub.com/aboutbravegirlsclub.html. You will not regret it!

Sugar and Spice and all things nice

2012-01-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

Some girls are just born with glitter in their veins.
Unknown

After I finished painting my grandson's wall mural, I got started on the one for my granddaughter's room. My daughter-in-law wanted two girls painted on the wall, almost life-size. I got a large sketch pad and began sketching. Once I finished, I taped all the pieces together and then traced what I drew and transferred that to the wall. My granddaughter's name is Sophia. So we named the one "The everyday Sophia" and the other "Princess Sophia". I went through her closet to find some of the clothes she actually wore and that's what I used for painting the everyday Sophia.

This next photo puts the size into perspective...

Glitter paint was used in the crown and parts of the gown...

This is the fairy I painted by the light switch for her room. The wings have glow-in-the-dark paint which light when the room is dark.

Men at Work

2012-01-24T22:13:00.000-05:00

Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!
-- Author Unknown

I know I just showed you the mural I painted yesterday, but I wanted to show you the very first wall mural I painted. It was for my grandson, two years ago. I flew in to see both my grandson and granddaughter and stayed quite awhile with them so I could paint a wall mural in each of their rooms. My grandson's room was the first and it was the most intensive.

My daughter-in-law and I discussed what to paint, but she already had a pretty good idea of what she wanted, based on my grandson's comforter. It might not look like much, but painting the horizontal stripes on two opposite walls and keeping them straight and perfect was a bit challenging. Thank goodness for Frogtape!

We went to Michael's and bought some poster paper for me to make the signs with. Each sign was handpainted and the lettering was traced on and then painted free hand.

Both walls are framed in a brighter blue to match his comforter, and the other two walls are painted solid blue. He's fortunate to have a cathedral ceiling in his room.

Tomorrow I'll show you what I painted in my granddaughter's room.

Finding Nemo

2012-01-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

“A pool just isn't the same as the ocean. It has no energy. No life.”
Linda Gerber

I spent a good portion of the day today painting a mural on my friend's lanai. My friend, Kathy, and I graduated from high school together. She married Art and together they have made Florida their home for a number of years. Mr. Cottage and I always get together with Art and Kathy whenever we winter in Florida. Because they don't live too far from us, Kathy asked if I would be willing to paint a mural on a wall in their lanai. A few years ago, they purchased a metal wall sculpture of a school of fish. They painted the wall a nice shade of turquoise and they asked if I could paint some seaweed to make it look like the fish are really swimming in water. I met with both of them and we decided to also include coral and a couple of small clown fish.

By the time I finished painting, the afternoon sun was shining in. Next time Mr. Cottage and I go over their house, I'll try taking another photo to show what it looks like without all the shadows.

I can only imagine!

2012-01-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

My connection to the earth is reinforced through the rhythm of the waves.
~Mike Dolan

Mr. Cottage and I were invited to spent last evening enjoying the company of several other couples for dinner and great conversation at a dear friend's condo. Our friend's condo happens to be on the 12th floor overlooking Siesta Key. When we arrived it was still light enough so I took a few photos off her screened balcony. Neva's condo faces south and in the morning she can watch the sun rise and in the evening watch the sun set. If you look really closely, just above the railing on the right side of the first photo, you'll see what looks like a small horizontal mark. That's a kayak.

Now, if I hadn't mentioned it before, I'm not one to enjoy heights of any kind UNLESS I'm somewhat closed in. So her screening on the balcony made me feel safe. As the evening wore on and darkness set in, it was amazing to listen to the sound of the waves coming ashore. Here we were, 12 stories up, and yet it sounded like we were on the beach. Amazing!

I LOVE the sea! I'm drawn to it's peacefulness, the rhythm of the waves and the creatures that live there. I could literally spend hours walking the shoreline and never get tired. Mr. Cottage and I once owned a 30 foot sailboat that we sailed out of Holland, Michigan. Both of us love the water! Other than our small cottage located on a small inland lake in Michigan, our sailing days was as close as I've come to living near a large body of water. Neva's condo is the farthest balcony, to the right, on the top floor, shown below...

I can only imagine living in such a place and going to sleep to the sounds of the sea!

ATC's for February

2012-01-21T11:47:00.000-05:00

Art is a way of knowing what it is we actually believe.
Pat B. Allen

I know it's not February yet, but I don't like to wait for the last minute on any commitments that I make. My Flygirl's Artist Trading Card group will be sending in their creations to our hostess for the month of February. Our deadline was extended a bit, but I'm still hoping to send mine off to Texas sometime next week. Our theme for February is 'LOVE', very appropriate for Valentines. It was also suggested that we create a fourth one so the hostess can keep one for herself, if we want to. I really want to try my hand at creating more mixed media, so that's what I did on all of them. So sit back and enjoy looking at what I did...

Starbucks vs McDonalds

2012-01-20T10:38:00.001-05:00

Life is the sum of all your choices.
- Albert Camus

Tonight my friends and I went to bingo and, as usual, we stopped by Starbucks to get our drinks to take with us. Have you noticed how their prices have been getting higher and higher? I received several Starbuck's gift cards for Christmas, so I've been using them and not cash out of my own pocket. Afterwards, we were talking and saying that next week we may try going to McDonald's instead. I mean, after all, we're all on a fixed income now (pensions and social security) and we have to watch how we're spending our money (yes, Mr. Cottage, I am aware of what we're spending!).

Anyways, I usually get a frappachino or a chai latte, either hot or cold. If we decide to go to McDonalds, then I'll probably get my vanilla or hazelnut iced coffee; but I'll miss my chai tea (Take note McDonald's, you need to add this to your menu!!). But there are only two chai's that I really like...Starbucks and Oregon Chai

What about you, Starbucks, McDonald's or other?

Regardless where we decide to get our drinks to take with us, we'll still go to Starbucks but we'll savor those drinks for our shopping or art show excursions.

It's as bad as it gets!

2012-01-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

Never apologize for your studio.
Denise Bezanson

I decided to start working on my ATC's for the February swap, but along the way, I decided to take a few photos just to show you where I really create in our RV.

How do you like the Chow Mein and salt and pepper shakers on my 'art' table? FYI, Mr. Cottage and I ate our dinner tonight in the living room with our plates on our lap.

By The Sea

2012-01-18T08:02:00.000-05:00

The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
-Jacques Cousteau

We winter in Florida to get away from the cold and dreary days back in Michigan. But one of the many reasons we love the Sarasota area is because we are very close to the Gulf coast. In fact, one of the top beaches in the world is only miles away from where we stay. Siesta Key is known for it's all white, powdery sand (which never gets hot from the sun). Just going there and walking along the beach is like stepping into heaven. Between the sea, listening to the waves crashing to shore and watching the dolphins and all the birds one would never have to visit a therapist. One day Mr. Cottage and I arrived on Siesta Key beach and found it shrouded in fog. As we did our walking, the fog eventually lifted.

There's also other wonderful areas, including Venice and Anna Maria Island...

I'll be posting more photos of the wonderful Gulf coast of Florida throughout our stay.

Harlequin and Fleur de lis

2012-01-17T08:38:00.000-05:00

Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's.
Billy Wilder

A couple years ago at a flea market, I bought a really nice wooden bench that I thought would be perfect for a table on our screen porch. It only cost $10. What a deal! When the time came to paint it, I decided I wanted a harlequin design with Fleur de lis. Trust me when I say that painting a harlequin is not as easy as I thought it would be. I found directions on how to design a harlequin at Silverspoon Murals. Of course their directions are for a wall mural, but you can easily adapt it to whatever you need to paint.

Your biggest challenge will be to have all the diamonds equally spaced in length and width and have them all end up fitting into your space. I used a ruler, yardstick and pencil. Don't worry about how much you mark it up because your painting will cover all the pencil markings. I then used Frogtape. Double check and make sure the tape is on the correct side of your markings so you get the right colored paint in the right diamond. Unfortunately, I painted this a couple of years ago, before I ever thought of starting a blog, so I don't have any photos to show you my process.

For the Fleur de lis, I simply Googled Fleur de lis photos and when I found some I liked, I then printed them and made it the size I wanted. Then using a really sharp exacto knife, I cut out my own stencil design. I prefer freehand painting, so I don't usually stencil. I was very particular on how I wanted the Fleur de lis to look, so after stenciling, I went back with a paintbrush and fixed up the edges.

I added one final touch and that was painting the underside a raspberry color. There's just enough of it showing to look terrific with the other raspberry colors on the porch.

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out!

Loving these e-courses!

2012-01-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.
                                                             ~Henry L. Doherty

I know I've mentioned before about some of the e-courses I've signed up for. Last summer, I took Flying Lessons by one of my favorite artist, Kelly Rae Roberts.   Then this past fall, I signed up for Blogging Your Way by Holly Becker from Decor8.   Around the same time, I also signed up to take Christy Tomlinson's class on her She Art Workshop to start learning more techniques about creating mixed media...

And then I signed up to take her She Art Workshop No.2, before I barely started her first one...


Are you with me, so far? It really is just so convenient to take classes in your own house and with your own computer. No driving or parking to worry about and for the most part you can do your lessons at your convenience. I have to be really honest with you and let you know I have a LONG, LONG way to go with Christy's classes because I had to put them on hold for awhile. The great thing about many of these classes is even though it may be a 3 weeks class (or whatever), many times you have an additional 3 to 6 months to complete it before you will no longer have access to the class. AND, all these classes have materials, templates, videos and audios for you to download and save to your computer so you'll always have it!

OK, now for the really big bombshell. Let the drumroll begin..... I started another e-course this morning!! Yup, that's what I did! And this one is the longest and most expensive one yet. Kelly Rae Roberts and her friend, Beth Nicholls who teaches Do What You Love, have gotten together to teach a new class about a new and revolutionary way of thinking about your business. The class will run for 10 weeks with a one week break in the middle. Fortunately, KRR offered the class to her fellow Flying Lessons students at a really good discount and with a payment plan. Then, last month, those of us who signed up with her from our class, received a beautiful journal for us to use during this class. What a nice surprise and beautiful gift...

Thank you Kelly Rae and Beth! The name of this new class is called The Business Soul Sessions: Where Passion Meets Profit. There are 14 different countries represented by the students taking this class. See how much fun learning really is!

Everyone Loves A Parade

2012-01-15T08:30:00.002-05:00

It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.
~Barbara Kingsolver

Every year in January, the RV park where we stay for the winter, always has what's known as a Homecoming Parade. It's really just an excuse for everyone to have a good time by either being in the parade or watching it, then joining in for a grilled lunch and free entertainment. Every year a different theme is chosen. This year it was TV commercials. I've taken part in the parade in the past, but this year I wanted to just watch and enjoy it from the sidelines. It always starts with the veterans leading the way. Because Mr. Cottage is a vet, he's participated in this parade for a number of years now. He's the second one from the left...

They also honor any of the WWII vets by letting them ride in a cart...

See if you can figure out what commercial some of these groups presented...

Last year the theme was TV shows. The group I was in chose The Mickey Mouse Club...

And a couple of years ago the theme was a circus. That's me on the left end...

For those of you who are younger, just know that growing older can be fun. Some of us still act like we're kids again. Nothing wrong with that!!

Mexican Fruit Cake

2012-01-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.
~Erma Bombeck

I have to be honest and admit that I didn't do too much today. But I did bake a wonderful cake for our "happy hour" group today. Once a month we meet with appetizers and desserts. By the time I signed the list, I noticed no one had signed up for desserts yet. The other night I went through my recipes and found a cake recipe that has been handed down in our family for many years. Every time I take it anywhere, people rave about it. But the best part about it is how quick and easy it is to make.

MEXICAN FRUIT CAKE

                         2 cups flour
                         2 cups granulated sugar
                         2 eggs
                         2 teaspoons baking soda
                         20 oz. can crushed pineapple (do NOT drain)
                         1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Beat the eggs with a whisk. Add sugar and beat well, using a wooden spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until everything is well blended. Pour into a 9 x 11 greased and floured baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

FROSTING:

1 8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Beat the softened cream cheese and softened butter together. Add the sugar and vanilla and spread on the cooled cake.

Enjoy!

Art on the walls

2012-01-13T10:08:00.006-05:00

The grand and the simple. They are equally wonderful.
Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Have you ever wondered what artist's themselves hang on their own walls, in their own houses? Whenever I look through a decorating magazine and I find out that the homeowner is an artist, I like to look at the art hanging on their walls and see if it looks like they painted it or is it one they fell in love with and had to purchase for themselves. Because I've only been painting for a relatively short time, I currently have only one of my paintings framed and hanging on our very own walls.

I thought I would show you some of the artwork hanging in our house. Mr. Cottage and I bought the one shown below a number of years ago at the Petoskey Art Show in Michigan. It almost looks like a painting, but it's really a photo by Carl Sams and the piece is entitled Tina, as in Tina Turner's hair. We currently have it hanging in our living room and we just love it!

Looks at this next one very closely...

We have way more art than I could ever show you at any one or even two times. And a lot of them aren't even hung right now. I rotate them around every so often along with the way I'm decorating at the time. Every time I see another great masterpiece that just needs to hang in our house, I have to decide which one will have to go into hiding for awhile. There's only so much space on our walls and shelves, but I do love art!

Oldies, But Goodies

2012-01-12T09:31:00.005-05:00

Our most treasured family heirlooms are our sweet family memories.
Unknown

For my second Christmas, my parents gave me a musical rocking chair. I was only a little over 14 months old at the time. Somewhere along the way and many years later, I ended up with it again, minus it's rockers and the music it played. It had been sitting around our house, collecting dust and looking very neglected.

A couple of years ago I decided to bring it back to life by painting it periwinkle blue and a light green.

I was fortunate that I had boxes upon boxes AND albums upon albums of photos to go through; and I was able to find a couple of photos going all the way back to that special Christmas, so many years ago. I decided to add one final finishing touch, which no one can really see. I made copies of these photos and decoupaged them to the underneath side of the seat.

When our first child was born, my mother was insistent that my father and her would buy a nice WOODEN high chair. I was informed that it wouldn't be one of the plastic or portable ones. I went along with this (how could I say I wanted one of the other kind!). But now that our boys are all married and two of them have kids of their own, I'm so happy that my mother insisted on the wood high chair . When our first grandbaby was born (our little Sophia), I knew we had to bring that old high chair up from the basement. It was covered in mildew and dust. After scrubbing and more scrubbing, and sanding and priming, I finally painted it a generic color in case any grandsons came along (we now have two grandsons).

Although I don't have any photos to show this, I've written the name of every little child in our family, who has used this highchair, on the underneath side of the seat. Along with their name, I've also written their date of birth. This includes our own boys as well as their children.

I'm hoping this will continue to be handed down through the family as our great-grandkids come along, although I'm not in any rush for this yet!

Old Florida

2012-01-11T08:45:00.000-05:00

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I started walking with a group from our park known as the Suntrekkers Walking Club. Yesterday, instead of walking in our park, we went in several cars to Myakka River State Park for our walk. I was in Myakka Park a few years ago where I learned all about it's history. I'm not going to go into all the details, but when you visit Myakka, it's like going back in time and seeing how the real Florida looked years before civilization took hold of its roots. We started off on a nature trail, walked across a tree canopy and climbed a tower which stood higher than any of the tree tops.

After we walked across the canopy walkway, many of us climbed the tower for an even better view. I can't believe I did it because I am terrified of heights, but the spectacular views must have softened my fears.

I know this next photo looks like a bunch of weeds on the ground, but I'm really up in the tower and you could see for miles and miles all the nature of Florida.

Yup, I was actually leaning over a railing to take several of these shots. It must be my word of the year FLOURISH that was giving me the confidence to take these photos.

Just before leaving the park, several of us spotted an alligator. Fortunately, he was on the opposite side of the river, so we headed to the bank and snapped a few photos of him and other wildlife that surrounded us.

Thunder On The Bay

2012-01-10T10:00:00.002-05:00

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.
~Author Unknown

Every year at this time, thousands of motorcyclist ride into Sarasota for what is known as Thunder on the Bay. We've seen them riding around in the past, but this is the first year we decided to go downtown and see them up close.

We went with our friends, Jim and Kelly, who once rode motorcycles in their younger years. I, for one, am not too fond of them. I think it's because my parents had it ingrained in me for as long as I could remember, that they were dangerous and very unsafe. But this was free to attend and it gave us something to do for a few hours. I couldn't believe all the money that people had tied up into their motorcycles. Someone was telling us that some have spent upwards of $20,000, just for the paint job that was done on it.

Mr. Cottage had a motorcycle and a motor scooter for more years than I cared for. But I know there are thousands, even millions of people who love to ride around on their motorcycles, with the wind blowing in their face and hair. We saw three wheelers, custom seats and lots of other custom features on their bikes.

Someone mentioned that there were well over 5,000 motorcycles in Sarasota for the weekend.

And there was a bit of humor for all of us to enjoy...

And even their pets got involved with the festivities...

Word of the Year

2012-01-08T20:48:00.002-05:00

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
– Chinese Proverb

I know that I just posted my word of the year on January 1, but today I'm taking part in a Word Hop with my friends from the Fly-Tribe. The purpose of choosing a word to focus on for the year is to help keep you on track in helping to achieve your goals and ambitions for the year. My word for 2012 is Flourish.

FLOURISH, to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

Synonyms for flourish: thrive, prosper, bloom, blossom

This year I really want to flourish in all areas of my life. I'd like to think of myself as a flower that is blossoming to it's full potential. I sketched and drew out what came to my mind...

I'm hoping to really concentrate on my art by learning new techniques, taking classes and finding new venues for selling my creations.

I really want myself to flourish in all other areas of my life, such as financial management, managing my time more efficiently, doing more to exercise my body and mind and keeping positive thoughts.

Even though Mr. Cottage and I have been married for almost 44 years, there's always room for our marriage to flourish more than ever. I'm also hoping to grow in my faith.

Since the start of 2012, I have challenged myself to do a blog posting every day for the year, I've signed up with Creative Every Day (to be creative in some form or another each day), I'm participating in The Fly-Tribe ATC's each month and just the other day I signed up for five different workshops at the Create Mixed-Media Retreat in Irvine, CA in late May and early June. I'm hoping these are good signs for my following through on my word FLOURISH.

I mentioned at the start of this post that I'm participating in a Blog Hop today. Click on the word FLY-TRIBE to be taken to the starting point of our official Word Hop. You'll be amazed to read and see all the creative talents in this wonderful group I belong to.

Moments With Molly - Christmas Presents

2012-01-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative.
-Mordecai Siegal

Molly IS a member of our family. How can she not be! The boys have all moved out, gotten married and now have dogs of their own. To Mr. Cottage and I, Molly is our little girl. So it would be only natural to make sure she has presents for Christmas. She's not too great on opening her own presents, like some of our past dogs did; but, boy, does she love tissue paper!

Molly received a nice purple leash to match her purple collar. She also received some yummy treats from Woof Gang Bakery. Most of them had either peanut butter or apples in them.

Molly enjoys receiving gifts. Can't you tell!

ATC's

2012-01-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

Neglect not the gift that is in thee.
1 Timothy 4:14

ATC's is an abbreviation for Artist Trading Cards. These little cards have a standard size of 3.5" x 2.5". Artists create their art on these cards using a variety of mediums and afterwards they trade them with other artists. There's even a website devoted to ATC's. Many of you are aware that I belong to a wonderful group known as The Fly Tribe. This past fall many of them decided to take part in creating and trading ATC's within our group. I was quite busy at the time and decided not to do this until now.

Each month there's a theme that is to inspire us in creating our ATC's. After they're finished, we send them to the hostess of the month, along with a SASE, and wait to receive three ATC's from other artists in our group. January's theme is Dreams/Wishes. I just wanted to share the ones that I made and that have been sent off to California.

I really enjoyed making these. The first two were my first attempts with mixed media. The last one was painted with my acrylic tube paints. I'm really looking forward to sharing these with you each month; not only what I create, but what I receive back from the other artists.

Studio Tour, All The Details

2012-01-06T10:00:00.001-05:00

The studio is less important than other things, like the burning desire to paint. If you don't have this disease, you can't catch it from a nice studio.

Warren Criswell

My studio is in our smallest room of our house, minus the bathrooms. The biggest problem comes when I keep purchasing more and more art supplies, then I have to get creative on how to find a place for everything. I found the bookcases, baskets and all my old books and magazines at either estate sales, flea markets or antique shops. I love a great deal!

So there it is. I just think there's a bit of humor here because all summer I create in my smaller space at our cottage and now I'm in our 36' RV in Florida and have an even smaller space than our cottage. So it's not really how big or small your space is; it really depends on what you do in the amount of space you do have.

Studio Tour

2012-01-05T10:00:00.001-05:00

An artist's studio should be a small space because small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it.
Leonardo da Vinci

Before we left for Florida, I finally got my studio decluttered and looking better than it had in months. It was once a nursery, then a bedroom to young boys and finally a bedroom to a teenager. Mr. Cottage and I always said we wanted to turn it into a den some day. Well, that day never came. After the boys all moved out, it became just a spare room, then my project room, then my coastal room and now it's my studio. Mr. Cottage asked about his den, but I had to remind him that he has the basement, shed, garage and yard. When it first became a spare room, I painted it a very neutral color and didn't want to repaint it. So I've just decorated around it.

I'll show a bit more details tomorrow. See you then.

One Scoop or Two?

2012-01-04T09:54:00.001-05:00

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
~Ernestine Ulmer

I'm finally back in the swing of things with my watercolors. A group of us got together today and will do so every Tuesday afternoon to paint with watercolors. I know it's winter and all, and that it's even cold in Florida today; but we were all thinking summer thoughts and our love of ice cream. We painted an ice cream cone and could make it any flavor and as many scoops as we wanted. I went with strawberry and chocolate chip mint. But I couldn't stop there; oh no, I think I really wanted a sundae instead because next thing I knew I added a dollop of whip cream, a smidge of hot chocolate syrup and a cherry on top.

My granddaughter, Sophia, has a pink and green bedroom. I'm thinking about adding a bit more green to the dark background and eventually framing and matting it. I think it will add a touch of whimsy to her room and look really cute on one of her walls.

MMMM, Good!

Challenges

2012-01-03T10:00:00.004-05:00

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
                                                                                J K Rowling

Well, I did it again! Yup, I signed up for another challenge. If you look down far enough on my sidebar of this blog, you'll see a button that says "Creative Every Day 2012". Click on it and you'll see what this is all about.   I knew I wanted to be more committed to painting and making art, so I figured this would really give me the push I wanted. And then I read on their site...

"Creativity is meant in the broadest sense, so it doesn't have to be something art related. Your creative acts could be in cooking, taking pictures, knitting, doodling, writing, dancing, decorating, singing, playing with your kids, brainstorming ideas, gardening, or making art in the form of collage, paint, or clay...or whatever!"

I decided to show a couple of my really inspiring "Words to Ponder" from my Pinterest Board.

If you've never been on Pinterest, please check it out. WARNING: IT CAN BE VERY ADDICTIVE! I'm not a big TV person and when I have nothing else to do (like paint, read, etc.,), I usually go on Pinterest. It's like shopping, without really shopping. You actually create boards (like bulletin boards), with all your favorites whether it's clothes, words, decorating, shopping, etc. Look on my sidebar, just under "being social" and click on the purple "P".   You'll be able to check out all my boards, but if you want to join, you'll have to ask to be invited. It's really a lot of fun and the best part is it's free!

Making it work

2012-01-02T10:00:00.003-05:00

If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen.
Cher

Living in a 36 foot RV for four months can present a bit of a problem when it comes to finding the space for creating art. Finding a place to store all the art supplies I brought along with me is even more challenging. My main area for the most used items is in a little cupboard that I can get into very easily and quickly....

My canvas and mixed media supplies are kept in a couple of cupboards that's a bit higher to reach....

I keep my acrylic paints behind a chair in our main living area. This is one time I have to throw interior decorating out the window....

Even one of my portfolios and my tabletop easel have to stay out at all time. I keep them under the dining table....

Of course, I had to bring along some of my art books....

And additional books for reading and for ideas....

The photo below shows the top of our dining table lifted up to show the storage within it. I've got all my handmade paper I purchased at the art market in Grand Rapids this fall....

Obviously, if the table top opens, it only makes sense that all the seats lift up also. Yup, this is the inside of one of our dining chairs....

We have a California king-size bed and it, too, lifts up. I have another portfolio, large box and a suitcase with more art prints, papers, etc. under this bed. Where the desire is, a solution can be found!

A New Year, A New Start

2012-01-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul”

G. K. Chesterton

Happy 2012 to everyone! So, did you make a New Years resolution? I find they just don't seem to work, so I haven't done this for a number of years. My Flygirls Tribe of artists have talked about and discussed about using a "word" that you will focus on for the year, instead of a resolution. I really gave a lot of thought and had it narrowed down to a couple of words, but finally I settled for:

FLOURISH, to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

Synonyms for flourish: thrive, prosper, bloom, blossom

It sounds good for me. I can concentrate on flourishing in my art and creativity, my marriage, my health which includes mental, emotional and physical, my faith, and in all aspects of my life. I did a google search for FLOURISH and I found a book, would you believe....

In yesterday's posting, I mentioned about a big announcement today. I love a challenge! It gives me something to aim for. So beginning today, January 1, 2012, I am challenging myself to do one blog posting each day for the coming year. So this will be the first of 366 (yup, it's leap year).

None of us know what this new year will bring to us, but most people are hoping it will be better than the old one was. I'm hoping to look back at the end of 2012 and see just how much I flourished during this year.

If you've chosen a word or made a resolutions, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear about it.

Here's wishing for 2012 to be your best year ever!

Out with the old

2011-12-31T10:58:00.000-05:00

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey

Can you believe that an entire year has come and gone? I remember my mother telling me once that the older you get, the faster time seems to come and go; and boy, was she right. It seems like I wake in the morning and have my coffee, then I'm back in bed and the next thing I know it's morning again and I'm having my cup of coffee. Kind of like the movie Groundhog Day. It seems just like yesterday that we started spending our winters in Florida. This is now our 7th year. Time just keeps marching on and on, faster and faster.

I know that some can hardly wait to get rid of 2011 and start all over in 2012. For the most part, 2011 really wasn't all that bad for us, except we did lose our beloved Dudley. We also got audit by the wonderful IRS, and we had to go out and finally purchase a new washer and dryer. Not a cheap thing to do.

Regardless of the bad, one must always try and find the positive and graditude in every situation. We really had a lot of good things that happened in 2011. This is the first time we tried living at our cottage for the entire summer and loved it!

Mr. Cottage and I both had good health, went to WDW twice and went on an Alaskan Cruise. One of the best things that happened to us was the birth of our third grandchild, Corbin! Then the next best thing has got to be the start of The Red Painted Cottage and my creative journey. I took a class at our art college about selling my art on Etsy, then I took two online classes, Blogging your Way with Holly Becker and Flying Lessons taught by artist, Kelly Rae Roberts. Through this last class, a private facebook group was created for all of her students in class. This facebook group of creative souls has been a real lifeline and bond for me with other artists. I'm also grateful for finally getting my paintings printed and matted.

So what is everyone going to do for New Years Eve? We're not big party people and in the past have spent the evening with close friends at each other's house. This year I made reservations at Cosimo's Brick Oven in Sarasota for the best pizza anywhere in this area. Then Mr. Cottage and I will return back home and watch movies from Netflix, one of which is The King's Speech.

Wherever you are and how ever you celebrate or not, I hope you have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve celebration...

Big news is coming tomorrow on New Year's Day for The Red Painted Cottage. See you then!

B-I-N-G-O

2011-12-29T10:23:00.000-05:00

Games lubricate the body and the mind.
Benjamin Franklin

Ever since I first came down to Florida seven years ago, I started to play Bingo one night a week with my friend Kelly. Honestly, neither of us are bingo players back home in Michigan. Why do we do this? That's a good question that we ask ourselves each week as we get so close to winning and all excited, and then go home empty handed.

We start by getting a drink at Starbucks to bring along with us. Last night we each bought a Chi Frappacino and then proceeded to Woodland Hall to play our crazy game of Bingo. When I say crazy, that's just what I mean. Sometimes you can win on a straight line, but usually you have to have an "S", an "anchor", a "telephone pole", a crazy "C" or "T", etc.. And while you're trying to do one of these, you're also trying for another at the same time. Usually they play two-three games at once. It can get a bit confusing, but I guess that helps to keep the mind sharp. The cards themselves are really like stiff boards where you slide a plastic sleeve over the numbers as they're called. Because they're so stiff, the wood shop at our park makes and sells wood bingo boards to sit your cards in. A few years ago, I decided to paint Kelly's and mine. Kelly's is a beautiful purple with bees and flowers on it. Mine is shown below...

Every time we would attend people commented about our painted boards. So last year I decided to purchase a few extra and paint them to sell. Well, I guess it must be the fixed income thing or whatever, but I only sold two and they were both to my friends. I still have four more to sell and I'm hoping to unload them before we head back home in the spring...

Anyways, it seems that every time I play for "the very first time" of the season, I usually "Bingo". The past two years, it didn't happen. But, I'm back in my groove again because I did call a "Bingo" on a coverall the other evening. Unfortunately, it was during the holidays and not as many people attended so that meant not as much money was available to win. But I'm still happy with the $10 I received.

A few years ago, I found a really cute musical magic wand for my granddaughter, Sophia. I then found a slightly smaller wand and had a thought.....hmmm.....what if I bought one for myself to take with me to play bingo. Trust me when I say that it's all in fun. You can't take life too serious at times and this is one of those times. So every now and then I'll bring it along with us just to have a childish moment of fun.

"B I N G O"

Christmas in Florida

2011-12-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling.
Edna Ferber

Having grown up and living in Michigan for 50+ years, spending Christmas in the "tropics" is just a tad different than spending it in Michigan. Although everyone in Michigan may have been dreaming of a white Christmas, the sad fact is they didn't get it. Nothing is worse than having a dreary looking green Christmas, so I guess I didn't mind spending our Christmas in 80 degree weather. Kathy, my girlfriend from high school, has lived in southwest Florida for many years. She and her husband, Art, have asked us to join them for almost every Christmas we have spent in Florida. So yesterday, the four of us had reservations at Columbia's on St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota, FL (a wonderful Cuban restaurant). Kathy thought it wouldn't be crowded on the circle because of it being Christmas and all the stores would be closed. SURPRISE!! It was packed full of people not wanting to cook on Christmas day. We had a wonderful dinner and our waitress, Tamara, was outstanding. You could just tell by talking with her how much she loved her job.

This is a photo I took on St. Armand's Circle, just outside of Columbia's...

Santa was wonderful to both myself and Mr. Cottage, as usual. We talked with all our sons, even the one visiting Australia. We talked on our cell phone and because of International costs, we kept our talk to a bare minimum. He said that Corbin was good on the flight over until they we getting ready to land.

Now I'm getting busy with my creative side once again. My private facebook group (we call ourselves the Fly Tribe) trade ATC's each month. (Artist Trading Cards...they are only 3.5"x2.5") I was busy in the fall so I didn't partake in this, so this is the first time I'm taking part in the trade. I'll share what I created when I finish all of them.

Just Believe

2011-12-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."
Norman Vincent Peale

This is going to be my last posting before Christmas, so I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

We spent last Christmas in Fredericksburg, VA with our oldest son's family. We really enjoyed being with them and our grandkids. We spent Christmas Eve watching The Polar Express...

And then we had the joy of watching the kids open all of their presents on Christmas morning. Sophia...

And Adriel...

And then watching everyone crash later on...

This year, they're all in Texas with their other grandparents. And our newest grandson, Corbin, is in Australia to finally meet his other grandparents...

Mr. Cottage and I will be spending Christmas with our friends down here in Florida and we already have reservations to go with them to Columbia's on St. Armand's Circle. Their Cuban menu is excellent. I have to admit that I really miss decorating our house back home. I always went all out. I'll just have to settle for what I have decorated here, along with the warmth and the sun. And so my friends, I hope you will all be with either family or friends for Christmas. May you all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!

Moments with Molly...Sleep over with Annie

2011-12-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails.
~Max Eastman, Enjoyment of Laughter

When we went to Disney World, Molly had a sleep over with her friend, Annie. We took her over to Annie's a day before we left for them to get reacquainted. Molly is checking things out, while Annie watches her.

Annie decided to snuggle with Mr. Cottage.

Molly is keeping her eye on her friend, Annie.

When we returned home again, Annie came over to our place for a few sleep over nights while her parents went away. This time, Annie is keeping her eyes on Molly.

Annie, doing what she loves best (watching for other dogs and squirrels)

Our Molly!

A great time was had by both, but all good things must come to an end. Goodbyes are so hard!

Until We Meet Again

2011-12-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss

All good things must come to an end. And so it goes that we're back in Sarasota and had to say farewell to Mickey and Minnie, until the next time.

Our last evening was spent in Hollywood Studios and we arrived just as the parade was going on.

Just strolling around...

And some last photo shots as we were leaving the park...

We were greeted with a really welcoming sign at a rest area along I-4 on our way back to Sarasota...fortunately, my eyes didn't see any!

I am smiling from ear to ear because it happened, as Dr. Seuss would say. Now we're just waiting for the Jolly Old Man in red to make his appearance in a few days so we can get our lives back to normal once again, even though I just love this magical time of the year!

And the magic continues

2011-12-18T16:34:00.000-05:00

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.

Dr. Seuss

I love planning and going on vacations. The worse part is the last day when you have to leave and go back to reality. But at least for now, and hopefully always, I have my memory and photos to look at and enjoy the good times that were had by all. Our son, Mike, and his wife, Lori, flew into Orlando and joined us for the the few days at Disney World. We had a fabulous room at the new Bay Lake Towers and wonderful views...

Even though we had a full kitchen, complete with dishwasher, we still met up each night with Mike and Lori for a great dinner. For our first night, we went to Fulton's Crab House in Downtown Disney. It's in a real river boat and we had a fabulous view by the water. I ordered their famous blue crab cakes and they were yummy!

For our second evening, we ate at Ohana in the Polynesian Resort. We all have eaten there before and the meal is all inclusive, including beverages and dessert. For the third night we went for the first time to the Biergarden Restaurant in Germany at the World Showcase. It was a bit costly, but oh was it delicious. Again, it was all inclusive and we all decided that we'll definitely come back here again. For dessert I had a berry compote with a vanilla sauce, Bavarian cheese cake and a few other delights...

It looked just like we were in a real German village...

Finally, for our last evening we went to the 50's Prime Time in Hollywood Studios. This has now become a tradition to come here for abuse. It's very similar to Ed Debevics where the look is all about the 50's and you great treated with "loving care", but don't put your elbows on the table, and make sure to eat all your veggies (or you may have to put your nose against the wall) and don't look at your server the wrong way or you might be accused of giving them the heebee jeebies as our Uncle Tim told Lori. The first time we were here, we had Aunt Memory. I highly recommend either of them. All the food is considered "comfort food" and is really great. This is a photo of Mike and Lori just outside the restaurant...

I think the Magic Kingdom is my favorite, with Epcot coming in very close behind. Could it be because it is so magical...

and it has the Haunted Mansion, which I love...

and It's A Small, Small World, which I finally got Mr. Cottage to ride along with me...

Then there's Epcot and the Seas...

On our way to see O'Canada...

And the wonderful Moroccan music. I wanted to stay and listen some more but we had our dinner reservations to get to.

Fun, fun, fun!

Let the magic begin

2011-12-16T23:10:00.001-05:00

The magic is as wide as a smile and as narrow as a wink, loud as laughter and quiet as a tear, tall as a tale and deep as emotion. So strong, it can lift the spirit. So gentle, it can touch the heart. It is the magic that begins the happily ever after.
                                                                                             Unknown

I love the phrase "Never grow up". I think I will always be a kid at heart. Disney World is such a magical place where adults feel like young kids again. Mr. Cottage and I just returned from a wonderful time at Disney World. I've been to Disneyland, but it's nothing compared to Disney World. Everyone should go there at least once in their lifetime.   This is the third time I've been to Disney World during the festive holiday season and I can tell you that it truly is a jaw-dropping experience.

The lights keep changing on the castle to help make it look like it's covered in ice crystals.

All the Disney resorts have some kind of gingerbread house in it's lobby. The day before we left, I took the monorail to the Grand Floridian Hotel and I could hardly believe my eyes...
All I can say is "WOW", it's all edible and life size!

Even Downtown Disney had a ton of poinsettias and more glistening lights...

Over at Hollywood Studios, Disney has taken over the millions of lights that once belonged to the Osborne family from Arkansas. Their display just got a bit too big for their neighbors. If you click on Osborne Dancing Lights, you'll be able to enjoy the music and the magic.

And, of course, a Disney vacation has to include Mickey and Minnie Mouse...

I'll share more magic with you tomorrow!

Where are the flamingos?

2011-12-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."
~ W. T. Ellis

We finally arrived at our destination. As we unloaded our cargo trailer and cleaned our RV, I had to get our Christmas tree up, along with all our other decorations. If we were back in Michigan, the day after Thanksgiving has always been my decorating day for getting ready for Christmas.

You're probably asking yourself "where's the flamingos, palm trees, yada, yada, yada?" Remember that we came from Michigan and my flamingo ornament is back in Michigan, along with my lighthouse ornaments and so many other wonderful items that I've collected throughout the years. Storage is at a premium here and I was lucky enough to convince Mr. Cottage to bring our family room tree down with us a few years ago. I can store it away with all the decorations on it (I do remove the red ornaments, which we purchased from Target here in Sarasota and keep them in empty egg cartons in our RV).

We do have a fireplace, so I hung our stockings with care. There's even one for Molly!

Even our lampshade gets decorated!

I love having a touch of bling throughout our RV for the holidays!

Even Frosty the Snowman, an Elf and a reindeer make their presence in our RV the the holidays!

So now that we've settled in, it's time to repack and leave again. Yep, you heard me. We're driving to Disney World tomorrow and meeting our middle son and his wife there. We'll return back to Sarasota on Thursday, Dec. 15. In the meantime we'll be taking in Epcot, Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom. We made our dinner reservations with Mike and Lori months ago and our first meal tomorrow evening will be at the Fulton Crab House in Downtown Disney. We're coming Mickey!!

On The Road Again!

2011-12-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. ~Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt

Yes, we're going to be on the road again. This will be our 7th winter in a row that we've been coming down to Florida to get away from the cold and snow in Michigan. I can't believe how time flies when you're having so much fun. I can still remember our first winter and all that we saw and did. Now it's like living at home, nothing unusual and you've seen it all. But I still look forward to seeing all our wonderful friends that we have met through these years. We have more of a social life in Florida than we do in Michigan.

I've got all my art prints, mats, whimsical signs, paints, canvases, easel, books, and everything else I could think of to pack so I can keep my creative side flowing while we're there. We live in a 36-37 foot RV fifth wheel, which we leave down in FL. It's too much of a hassle to drive it back and forth. So we have a cargo trailer that Mr. Cottage customized to haul our clothes on hangers and oodles of tubs with all kinds of good things that we can't live without.

Where else could I go and try on a $180 hat? (try St. Armands Circle, a shopping mecca!)

Or see a dog in a stroller with sunglasses (and no, it's not our little Molly!)? (Art shows all over the area)

Or see a pelican up close.... (Venice, FL)

So I'll be away for a few days, but will have some new and exciting things to write about once we arrive in wonderful Sarasota, FL (a very artsy city!)

It's only paint!

2011-11-25T19:28:00.001-05:00

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit

Have you ever painted something and then afterwards thought "what was I thinking"? I number of years ago I decided to repaint a spare room. I had no idea what color to do it in. After playing around with some tiny paint chips, I finally decided on the color and painted the room. When one of our sons came home and saw it, he immediately nicknamed it "The Smurf Room". Remember the Smurfs, bright blue....

I couldn't live it down for long. Right around that time HGTV had their Dream Home Contest going on and as I did the virtual tour of it, I fell in love with the color in the master bedroom, called "Interesting Aqua" by Sherwin Williams. It was only paint, a tad bit more money, and some of my time, but the effects afterward were well with it. Everyone who saw it, said they loved it. Best decision I could have made.

Many of you remember the sign I showed you for the Blog Hop awhile ago, called "Ho Ho Ho" and how you liked it.

But I wasn't really happy with it. Then it dawned on me that it was the color of the lettering. The black just didn't stand out against the red. So yesterday, on Thanksgiving, I decided to repaint the lettering...no big deal! I knew what color, I had the paint and I had the time.

Be honest now, isn't it so much better! Now I'm happy with it and finally put it into my etsy shop!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward

Now let me see....salad is made, check....sweet potato casserole finished, check....turkey is anxiously waiting in the refrigerator, check....pumpkin pies made, check...(my homemade pumpkin pies made from the real pumpkin, MMMM GOOD!)

I'm doing some long overdue cleaning, putting up an extra table and tomorrow I will anxiously wait for our kids to come over. This is a day of giving Thanks and I know I have much to be thankful for. If you haven't already checked it out, go to the top of my home page and click on "gratitude" to see a list that I'm constantly updating.

I know I shared about how terrible the show went last Saturday, but now at least I have a lot of items that I was able to add into my etsy shop. It's not looking so bare, and that's a good thing (think positive thoughts). If you go the "shop" at the top of my home page, you'll be taken right to my etsy shop where I've decided to run a big 4 day sale beginning Black Friday and ending at midnight on Cyber Monday. Everything in my shop will be 20% off OR free shipping, customer can choose. If you know anyone who might be interested, please forward this information to them. I'm trying to get the word out.

Until that big Black Friday begins, please take time with your loved one tomorrow and just enjoy the moments of the day. I will be avoiding the crowds this weekend as I stay home and start to get ready for our trip down to Florida.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving y'all!