Tangling Birthday Cards Again

4 x 6 Greeting Card

Seems as thought the birthday card art is a theme these days!  As I mentioned this keeps one rather busy.  Not all my cards are as personal.  I sometimes take out my paints and do some generic ones and make cards ahead.  I just can't bear to buy off the rack.  

Zach will be 14.  

He is our 3rd youngest of the 9 grandsons.

Hoping he'll visit yet this summer.

This is the week of the big Manitowish Waters Art show.  

I'll post some photos of that later this week.  It's always a wonderful show and lots of fun.  The open reception is Wednesday.

My First Great Granddaughter: A picture worth a thousand words

Violet Virginia Bhavnagri

July 12, 2018

7#1oz

She is just about an hour or two old in this photo.  Is this not the sweetest face???  She is responding to her Aunt Abby.  Who is apparently fascinating!  And is telling Violet her first story.

I don't think any other words are necessary here.

Love, Great Grandma Virginia

Another Zentangle Birthday

When you have 12 grands it seems as if you are making birthday cards all the time!  We have two birthdays in July.  

And now today we are getting our first GREAT granddaughter.  She'll be born (C-section) at 5 pm (Pacific Time) in CA.  We are SO excited.  Now another birthday card!  OH my.  Stand by for more on that!

So this next week it is Nate's birthday (in Madison, WI).  He is 22.

Below is a photo of us with our two youngest grandsons, Mike and Pat from Lemont, Illinois. (11 and 12) This was Monday evening.  They were here a week (with their parents) and left that evening.  We miss them. It's SO quiet.  

We are standing in front of the "back side" of the cabin that faces the lake.  You can see the loft windows that all the kids love.  They climb the ladder and it become their world.  We rarely go up except to vacuum and make sure the mattresses are blown up.  The kids have drawn pictures on all the rafters up there.  

Life Begins at the Summer Cabin...sorta

View from where I sat at the 4th of July parade

15 minute sketch of our old fishing boat from the deck

Summer has never started quite like this.  

First off we are a month late getting here (due to the knee surgery saga that all my blog followers have heard about for months.)

Then we got here to the cabin only to discover our well has decided that 50 years was all it was going to give us. And this about 3 days before our company was due to arrive!!! (It was also 97 degrees which is unheard of in the north woods of Wisconsin!)

No water at the cabin is a lot like no power.  

You are really "camping" out at that point.

Needless to say the estimate from the well guy was not good news and that he couldn't come until the next week.  Oh my.

But, it was an adventure and the new well DID arrive eventually with better water and more pressure.  AND the local internet company DID finally arrive (on the same day) and put in the "real" wifi connection which I hav NEVER had up here.  Wow.  Things are looking up!

AND the company..my son and daughter in law and two grandsons (11 and 12) were spunky and fun and of good humor through the whole thing.  AND were delightful guests AND helped us so much with the opening.  The weather dropped back to 80 degree days and 50 degree nights (like perfect) and although we had one rainy afternoon the rest of the guest days were perfect...full of games and swimming and fishing and wine.  

We now are taking some real deep breaths and looking forward to some "more" normal times here...with time to paint, time to canoe, time for wine on the pier and visits with old friends.  The birds have found our feeder again and the smell of the pines is nice.

More relaxed news to come.  Right now I am counting the minutes to Thursday (July 12) when my first great granddaughter will be born C-section in CA.  Photos to follow.  

Winding up the itinerary

Coming to the end of the itinerary now...sorry there is no art for a bit.  There has not been time.  We made a stop to visit two more grandchildren in Poynette, WI (Eric and Missy) and then we headed to Watertown for lunch with old friends Al and Lillian.  Then on up north to the cabin.  Got in about 7 pm.  

All looks well except it's 87 degrees there.  We've never seen anything like this up there.  It's nuts.  We unloaded the car, turned on the fridge to chill overnight and headed back to Minocqua for dinner at Culver's and a nice sleep in the local motel (with AC).  

This morning we'll get basic groceries (you know like milk and bread) and head back for a day of trying to put things together.  We've hired someone to help prime our pump and get the water on. Hoping it won't be 90 all day.  That would make it harder.

I'll be back to "art" soon.  We are prepping for company over the 4th so that will be fun too.  Happy 4th everyone!

Keeping to the Itinerary

We are visiting with friends Roberta and Jim and their darling dog in Williams Bay, WI.  This is the town where my children grew up.  

So it's lovely and nostalgic to be back here for a few days.

Roberta loves to sit on her screen porch and this sketch is part of her view out into the woods.  Deer come to visit.  We had some rain while here but it seems to have blown off now and we are to get some nice sunny and warmer days...just the way I like them!  

We enjoyed some family time in the area while here.

These are two of our grown up grandsons on either side of Greg.

Everyone enjoys cars so the photo is in front of some of them!

We are off to Poynette, WI later today to visit more family with a stop at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lake Geneva to put fresh flowers on my mom and dad's graves.  This is something we try to do once a year while passing through southern WI.  

Sticking with the itinerary we will head to Watertown, WI on Friday for more friends and then make the final trip north to the little cabin on the lake.  Our plan is to unpack on Friday afternoon and turn on the electricity so the fridge will chill.  

Then we'll stay in Minocqua 12 miles from there for the night in the LAST motel of this trip.

We have no water on at the cabin yet.  Then we'll get some groceries on Sat morning and meet friend Scott back at the cabin to get the water on (it's no small task) and begin to "settle" a bit.  

Crossing fingers that the 4th of July week is dry and warm as we have my son and his wife and two boys arriving!  Hoping to get the pier in that week.  

Visiting in Indiana

Not much time during this visit for me to sketch.  These were done on Mac and Deb's porch facing the lake.  I loved the new "pediment" on the front of the house.  And the view out the front toward Lake Webster.  Lovely weather both days here in the high 70s.  We leave tomorrow morning headed for Naperville for a quick lunch with daughter Beth and then on to Williams Bay for another two day stay with friends.  

Here we are at the Waukarusa Dime Store (Candy Shop) in Indiana.

Our friends have two locations.  

The little store is charming.  Their speciality is jumbo jelly beans!

Leaving South Carolina Memories behind

Our two days in South Carolina at my sister's have come to an end.

We leave for WV this morning.  My impressions this trip are that we spent a lot of time on their huge deck overlooking the lake where my brother in law has tons of beautiful potted plants AND we curled up in the lovely living room (also facing the lake) for visiting, reading, and chatting.  I wound the two places together with a string.

Our days here were almost all clear and hot...low 90s.  But with a gentle breeze off the lake.  In fact I am the first one up this morning and am sitting on the deck at 7 am with my coffee listening to the birds and watching a few early morning fisherman.  

We ate at a nice restaurant last night.  

I just hate to think of packing and moving on. 

If I lived here I'd be out on this deck all the time.  They don't seem to have very many mosquitoes...at least not at this time of year.  And the lovely property is full of huge shady trees.  

I suspect we are heading to slightly cooler weather now as we move north and east through mountains.  We'll be in motels the next two nights and then with friends in Indiana.  

Milledgeville, GA on the trip north

So here is my first sketch on this trip starting with Milledgeville, Georgia on the first leg of our trip north. Part of an antebellum trail with beautiful old homes and buildings.  

OH my gosh it was hot when we got there!  96 degrees was the REAL temp.  I got to this building about 10 am and it was already 90 by then.  So I did the the ink sketch with the shadows and gave up.  NO way, even in the shade I could sit there any longer.  Whew.

I started to feel light headed from the heat!

I took a photo and filled in some color later.

Later that afternoon our car temperature gauge read 100 degrees as we headed to SC.  

This building is the old Baldwin County Courthouse with an "empire" clock tower.  Used as the capitol building from 1806-08, it burned in 1861.  Rebuilt and in 1886 it has been enlarged several times after that and is used primarily by Georgia College now.

Here We Go Again

This is the whole page now from my travel journal (mixed media paper) page one that starts the cross country journey.  

The car is packed (done in 106 degree temperatures).  And the house is tidy.  Just a few more closing chores this evening and then in the morning Greg turns off the water and power before we leave.
Off to find happy adventures.

    

Mapping the Route

I love maps in journals.
It really helps me to remember where I was at the time.

This is "graphic facilitation" of our upcoming trip north.  
It looks ambitious for two old folks who like to take naps after lunch!  

But it takes that into account and we never drive too many hour in a day and every now and then we stay for two days and rest up.
Hoping for good weather.

Travel Time ahead

Sketchbook/Lamy Pen & wc

What happens each spring (and fall) is that I risk boring my blog followers to death with lists of things I am doing in order to leave one place and get to another.  As in "oh no, there she goes again."

When I start posting sketches of the suitcases and bags you know we are nearing departure.  

The packing list is fairly routine, after all.  

So I promise no more lists. 

We have a nice itinerary.  There is always a little twist here and there and we try hard to find places to make the sights a bit new.  There really is a LOT of country between central FL and northern WI.  And it's rare we make a direct route.    

Some of our past back and forth travels have taken us as far west as Omaha and south as Baton Rouge.  So watch here for some of the travel adventures.  Tuesday morning is the "take off" time.  

Thanks to my physical therapy team!

Zentangle tiles 3.5" square

Finishing up my physical therapy today...and I've spent so much time there that the staff has come to be like family!!  Many kudos and thanks to the Radnothy/Perry Physical Therapy team in Tavares!

I created a tile for each.  Trying to get me in shape for the summer after my double surgery has been a long haul.  

The tiles are inspired by some beautiful work done by Freda Littleton who I recently met online.  She has a really artistic and bold style of drawing!  

We are shutting things down here now at the Fl house and it's day 6 and counting.  

Hope to be at my sister's house in SC a week from today. Let's hear it for for some good travel weather!!

Wrapping up a project.

Happiness is finishing a project.

Following the Journey

This painting (watercolor) is a half sheet of Arches 140#.  The home of my friends Fritz and Catherine in Lake Geneva, WI.

It has quite a bit yet to go...lawn, large forested area to the left, driveway..all in lovely shadows.  

It's fun to watch something "emerge" of the flat plain into the dimensional plane.  

I hope that a few more days I will have it done.  I need to get started in packing up the studio now.  And my energy level is still pretty low.  I find I have to stop and rest quite often.  

But leaving date is less than two weeks now.  The count down is on.  We are having pretty steady rains in FL in June.  I try to sneak in some pool time in between.  We are having a hard time adjusting to the heat in between...mid 90s with high humidity.  We try to get to the pool now and then.  My knee is making small improvements as I attend physical therapy 3 times each week.  

8 x 10 Sketchbook

Yesterday (Saturday) Greg and I attended the Ocala, FL model train show and swap meet.  Sponsored by the local Lions Club.  

I've been to many of these over the years but this was our first year as "sellers" and not just "buyers".  Greg, bless his soul, is making an effort to start clearing out his hobby room here in Florida which is very small and dearly needs some wiggle room.

It was also our first BIG outing since my knee surgery on May 7 and a chance to see how a longer car ride would go (an hour each way) and how my endurance would hold out over the rather long day.  We had to be out of house by 7 am!!!  OMgosh.  

We had rented a table ($25) and were wondering if we would at least break even.  We priced everything "to go".  We brought in about 10-12 big boxes of train parts and "stuff".  We needed up bringing home only 3 small ones.  THAT was considered a thumbs up for us.  We didn't make much money...probably after we paid the table fee, $15 maybe.  But our happiness was great.  I packed a lunch since the food at these events is pretty limited to hot dogs and chips and soda.  Plus it would have wiped out our $15.  

I suppose if you throw in the gas money and the ice cream cones on the way back, you could call it even.  

I still have 5 Physical Therapy sessions scheduled before we head north.  Will see the ortho doctor once again too.  We have started the dreaded "count down" and I am sending off mail holds and forwards first.  Our leave date is June 19 and I have a lot to get done before then moving slow!  

Sun is shining here in central FL and we'll be 90-95 all week.

It is my hope to finally get the the pool this week!  

Trying to get that feeling again...

This is the same Zentangle tile I posted previously only now it is finished.  I just want you to know how it turned out.  

I've been trying to do a tile a day or every other day.  It is very calming and it helps to feel like I am "finishing" something.  

My energy level is low.  I blame it on two surgeries since March 21 both requiring anesthesia which can really knock you for a loop.  I work on something for 45 minutes to an hour and feel exhausted.  But I hope that will be less and less.  There is nothing wrong with a nap after lunch but not too long.  It is frustrating to want things to progress and then they don't.  

I am walking without a cane now.  Encouraging.  Of course not walking too far but trying farther each day.  As I try to get more involved in the last weeks of the FL studio time, I find that doing short organizational things are helping me along.  Example:

I have just re-filled my palette with fresh tube colors this week.  Decided to do a strip of color samples to remind me of the various hues I have chosen over the past year or so.  The black line helps to remind me if they are transparent colors.  Which they are. I keep track of the brand names...Winsor Newton, Daniel Smith, Graham, Holbein and Qor.   

I have a few projects in mind for the last three weeks in the FL studio.  Then (and even now) I am going over inventory recognizing I am not taking so much with me this summer.  

I need to find a nice way to store my favorite drawing pens. 

I will take watercolors, sketching materials, and some colored pencils north.  Zentangle will go with me.  And some of my gelli print things.  That's about it.  Not so many books this time.  Too bulky and heavy.  

Reflecting on Today

3.5 x 3.5 watercolor paper

Dear Sharon…

We all know that every experience, painful or joyful and those in between weave the fabric of our lives.  

The painful ones especially need some time and distance before you can even begin to imagine anything of value coming out of them.  

As distance widens you begin to think again…dream again…love life again.  You know. Get hopeful again.

Your body begins to recoup…and you let go of fear and open up fully to receiving the healing prayers around you.

I’ve rejoiced in such wonderful friends and loving family who have surrounded me with comfort and gentle care during this mystifying ordeal.  My dear husband who I really have not appreciated during this.  He suffered maybe more than I did with worry and fear.

Yes, I wonder about that “golden years” myth too.

It surely is an interpretation that mystifies most of us in that category.

But you must admit there often “golden moments” and these I gather up like fallen flower petals and drop them into my journals to press so that I can smell the perfume again, hear the music again, touch the memory.  I've chosen mostly flowers to remember this event.  

I like this unfinished “zentangle tile” I found this morning.  

Done in a doctor’s waiting room where I spend quite a bit of time.

Unfinished…hopeful…comforting…it indeed reminds me of today…

Love, Ginny

Getting Well...AGAIN

Well, it's time for Autumn's tulips to say fare well.  They are really lasted pretty long for cut tulips!  She wondered what they looked like before I said good bye.  Below are my sister's Calla Lillies in amazing gorgeous pink and yellow.  

Granddaughter Maddy sent gorgeous cut Lillies and we have so enjoyed watching them open daily sending sweet perfume all over the house!  

I got back from the second stay at the hospital on Thursday and am making a very slow recovery...but moving forward.  It's tougher the second time and with far more stomach upsetting meds.  But moving slowly forward.  Starting PT again on Friday.  We'll be heading north way later than ever before.  But there you are.

Kalanchoe Plant

Carrying along with the theme of plants and flowers at my home...

I had a surprise plant left by another friend...it was a mystery plant but now I have discovered it is a Kalanchoe Plant...a succulent.

One I have never heard of before!