May painting plus surprise

That time of month again. No...not THAT time...But painting class time.

But this month I don't have one for Jan. She was in the afternoon class due to a train vacation. But she did a terrific job cuz I saw it.
So this group is Olga, Gary and me.





And now..for the surprise. I got the teacher Steve Wood to pose with his painting.
I do think this capture him really well.

He is a little smug about his work though but generally a nice guy.
I think all his brush noises got to him this day though cuz it made his eyes funny.

The brush noises? Oh..those are little tricks he uses to get you to remember the brush strokes...ROFL. I guess you just have to be there and to take one of his classes.

Seriously though he is a great teacher and everyone in class comes away with a very respectable painting. He makes the class fun and we learn new techniques and eventually can paint on our own. I have not tried that yet though.

I cannot draw even though I can carve. But Steve makes painting easy.
He proves his motto..."Anyone can Paint"

Our paintings show that. If we can..you can!

If you come visit at the end of the month,,,come join me for class..my treat too.
The guest bedroom should be done sometime this year...ROFL.
Until then...checkout his site.

Steve Wood Art

Our new car

Now don't we look spiffy in our new car....hehehehe

We did have fun riding in it though at a local museum....Greenfield Village.

We spent the day there last Monday and it was a perfect day..not hot, not cold or rainy and not crowded. the schools had not started their fields trips yet and it usually is crowded most of the season except early when the weather is so iffy. But for us..it was perfect!!

April Painting class

Painting class time again and yes..I purposely did not post for March. I twas another lighthouse and I hated the painting. If the teacher chooses that again..I won't go! But he says no more are planned...HOORAY!!
Once again..left to right: Jan, Olga and mine.





And another of Gary's and mine. He is really loving this class and I like him doing it as we now have a thing we do together that we both enjoy.


However...................


The paintings are beginning to stack up and we have to work on getting some picture railings up in the laundry room to dispay them. We plan to rotate them and gosh..we do have enough for a pretty impressive display.

When I get permission, I will post some of the other's work in the class. I do take the pics of several others but always forget to ask if I can post it for the world to see.One day I just might remember.

The class is getting popular too and 3 more of the woodcarvers tried it in the afternoon class. I can't wait to see their work Tuesday when they will bring it in and we will all compare.

Cia Herbs and strawberry pots

For Christmas my BFF gave me a Chia Herb set and I finally planted it when the house was warmer. We keep it pretty chilly for the most part but end of January I finally planted some.
I was skeptical cuz they don't have dirt bot sponges that you lay the seeds on. They are bigger now and soon I will clip off some to use in cooking.

A nice experiment but they they need constant attention --watering every day. I guess the dry air sucks it all up. But they were fun to do and I will try to transplant some outside.

Thanks BFF..you KNOW who you are!!



I was sadly disappointed to find my strawberry pots all broken up this winter. I had no idea that one had to take them in to be protected. Now I know after all that money down the drain. I had such high hopes for them. Good thing they were on sale huh?

I did take a hammer to the pieces and used them to fill in some huge red pots I bought for the front porch so all was not lost. Just expensive filler..lol.

The end of winter maybe?

February 26,2008. UGH...more snow and I am tired of it. I shot it out the back door cuz that was as far as I was gonna go barefoot. Oh yes..it was cold but looked sooo pretty.

Yup...another picture almost identical but without the pool in the shot. I likedd it better and am too lazy to delete the other one...lol

And yes...another shot of me today in the same boring pose. But gosh...I take it with the camera propped on the stove and it is the best light. Deal with it! LOL

February 2008 painting

Here you go...the paintings for February. From left to right, Jan, Olga and mine.
Personally I had a lot of trouble with this painting at first and hated it but in the end I think it turned out ok...just not of of my favorites. I like it better when they have rocks in them.

Here is Gary's and mine

This is the teacher's Steve Wood.

The "Lost" October painting

I have finally gotten around to taking a pic of that October painting. I only have one pic and none of my classmates cuz as you already have read, I forgot my camera that day so I had to take it at home....the pic all alone.

Pardon me for not cropping it but I don't have a graphic program installed on this new computer. Yes...another Mac and I am waiting for a new release of Photoshop Elements for Mac.

Ice festival 2008

Plymouth Mi holds an annual ice festival and has ice carvers from all over the world there to compete. We try to go every year but some years it is too bitter cold to go. This year it was rather warm, 22 degrees. Warm enough to walk around but not too warm as to melt the sculptures. I only took a pic of a few large sculptures and Gary is in the picture to show the scale...really huge. There were not many smaller pieces as the competitions were not yet started and we didn't go back to see them. It was pretty overcast and the pictures are a bit dark but you can get the idea of the ice glistening.

I loved the touch of snow we had the night before. I think it looked awesome.






Here is a close up of the flowers. One of the artists there was talking to a crowd and I got to ask him how they got the colors and what they used. He said they used chisels to gouge the flowers and then a turkey baster filled with Kool-aid to color them. The white tips of the flowers were snow and ice chips. They were amazing.

My brother and I, then and now

For the past few days I have been trying to sort through computer files and am getting ready to burn a few cds in preparation for a new computer. As most know I have a mac and finally convinced my brother a mac was the way to go so he is buying this one from me. It is 5 years old and still running just fine.

I came across some old pictures of the two of us and had to smile. I thought it would be nice to show us them and now.

This first was in 1949. Not sure of the month but as were were both born in September it makes me around 3 and he around 7. (1946 & 1942)

These next two were in June of 2006. We are still cute huh? ROFL

My dream car

This past week a case of cabin fever drove my hubby Gary and I to a local museum. The Henry Ford Museum. Every now and then we do take out a year's membership. It is fun to stroll down memory lane with all the old cars and things they have there.

This Bugatti has always been my favorite. Sorry but these pics were taken a couple years ago but it is still there in the same spot and still a favorite of mine.

While I love the styling of older cars I would prefer they had modern guts...well...engines and transmissions. I don't think I would like driving cars the way they were originally made. But I do dearly love the styling of the older cars.

I find myself liking them more and more each time I go. I do wonder why. But I do know they have style and individuality where todays cars tend to blend all together and even guys who love cars sometimes have a hard time telling them apart.

So now I present you a car with style and pizazz!!!

January paintings

The paintings this month really show how small changes can make the feel of the painting different. Some have a bright day feel and big cove and others feels like an overcast day and small cove. Left to right are Jan's Olga's and mine.

On the left is Gary's and the other is mine.
It still amazes me that everyone's pictures is so different and yet we we all in the ame class with the same teacher doing the same painting.
I still love doing this as I have never been able to paint before this.

More Orchids

Oh ok...this last is not of orchids but it was a pretty shot.

For a few hours it felt like summer and was delightful.

Orchids at Mattaei Conservatory

Some pictures of the orchids they had.

Beating the winter blahs

We got a case of cabin fever and I finally came up with something interesting to go see. About 20 minutes away is Matthaei Conservatory and Gardens. Of course the gardens are not open now but the small conservatory was and it was nice to see live plants and feel the warmth.

This first if Gary in the cactus room. This was really huge and I had to get someone in the shot to show the size of it.



I tried hard to get a good picture of the fish but had lost of glare from the overheard windows. Of course you can see them reflected in the pond but at least I got some fish in shadow.


Here I am with a huge curly ball of green.


I did not get the name of this tree but it was fun to look at.
They had several throught the place.

November -December Paintings

I have been lax in posting I know but these will get you up to date...almost.

I for some reason didn't take my camera on the day we did the October painting. I think because the class was postponed and on an odd day or perhaps my mind was on vacation. I will take a picture and post it eventually.

I guess everyone does know to click on a picture to make it full size, right?

Here once again are Jan, Olga and my pictures for November.

Now for December.
I think these were the most fun of all the pictures we have done. The whole class loved doing them. Once again in order, Jan, me and Olga.

And here is a bonus picture. Guess whose?

Give up?





Gary, my hubby. He decided to join the class to try it and see what he could do.
I think I was more surprised by his painting then he was. I think he did really well. Especially since he has never painted a picture before and does no arts and crafty type painting either. He will continue going as he found it fun and very enjoyable.

Recent pics of us both

Rarely do I get pics of Gary and I together. I took these on the automatic setting. And I will include a couple of just me cuz I liked the way my hair was..lol.

Huge Cauliflower

Here is the huge cauliflower I found while at eastern Market in Detroit. The biggest I have ever seen. My hand would barely cover a third of it.