OLD FOLK'S ART...

 

Ah, Summertime. 

 It really is a beautiful time of the year. 

 A time for fun, a time to explore, and a time to restore the mind 

of all the best that life has to offer.  

I can look back and see

 summers spent in Yosemite National Park, 

walking trails and climbing mountains. 

 Summers spent at my grandparent's ranch, 

swimming in the creek and picking berries.

 Summers spent with friends, riding horses

 and summers spent at 4-H Camp, 

singing around the campfire. 

 As I grew older

 there were summers spent at home, 

 as my parents and younger siblings 

went on vacation without me,

just because I could be trusted.

  Summers spent working my first job

 at Santa's Village

 and summers spent dreaming of going back to school with new shoes

 that were the ultimate of high fashion.

The older I got

 the more I looked forward to summer. 

 Now, I had a family of my own to share these beautiful days with.  

The kids were always so happy to get out of school

 and looked forward to vacations. 

 I could relate and remembered all of those days. 

 A trip to Disneyland

 was a very big deal for all of us

and Thursday nights at the Drive-In movie theatre

 for Dollar Nights 

with the promise of a trip 

to the canteen during intermission.

Fast forward a few very short years 

with motorhome trips to 

Canada and Yellowstone National Park

 or cruises to Mexico and Alaska. 

 They all pass by in a blur, 

and now you see photos that your grandkids took 

while vacationing in Costa Rica.

84 summers is not a long time.  

They go by more quickly than you will ever imagine 

but there is an upside to it all. 

There is the potential for memories that stay 

with you for a lifetime 

and, believe it or not, 

it makes "slowing down" easier to endure,

 although, I will admit, to not always liking it.

Folk art is the mirror image of real life.  

It is simple and plain, full of bright colors

 and direct images. 

 There is no real way to see it, 

only what you 

think is the right way 

and even then, you can only hope that 

you have seen it well.

  You learn as you go along, 

and like anything else, with practice it gets easier.  

It most likely will take a few summers to get it right 

but I, for one, will keep trying.

Hope your summer is

 one of the best!

Until next time,

...xxoJudy...

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Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda

SUMMER IS HERE...

I hope you like the new summer header.

 It is a beach out of my imagination that I wish I was sitting on right now 

and I left a lot of room so you all could join me.

Happy summer days everyone.

  I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of the year. 

 The sunflower plant is thriving and will soon burst forth in full bloom. 

 I hope I won't regret where I planted it. 

 I hope that all who pass by 

will take in its beauty with their eyes and noses 

and not with their hands. 

 It has been known to happen around here

 from flowers to fences. 

The cosmos are coming along but the zinnia seeds

 that I planted are not seeming so lucky. 

 Everyone tells me how easy it is to grow from seeds 

but I have not had much luck in that department. 

 I tried finding plants at the nursery 

but they all were out of the large zinnias. 

 I ordered the seeds from Floret 

and they are some of the beautiful creations 

that they work so hard to create and perfect. 

 Only I could mess that up and, so far,

 it looks like I might have. 

 Time will tell.

The old school phlox is on the verge 

of bursting into bloom. 

 Soon the garden walk 

will be surrounded by white clouds. 

 I just can't seem to mess 

these particular flowers up.  

They always come through year after year. 

 My kind of gardening.

A few additional items have been added 

to the parlor spring mantel 

so that it is ready for Independence Day festivities. 

 After that it will take on a more summery attitude.

We are enjoying the start

 of wonderful summer weather 

as it slowly works its way up

 to what is known around here

 as "complaining weather". 

 All seasons have one. 

  However, we are not quite there yet. 

 We are soaking up all the goodness while we can. 

Hope everyone is staying as cool as they can

 and enjoying it all.

I have had problems finding where my photos go.

 For some reason I have been unable to find them after I took them out of the camera 

and put them into the computer.  

Don't you just love how I describe the process?

 No wonder I never know what I am doing. 

Anyway, I thought it had been settled after a trip to the store where I bought the computer 

but I only remembered to tell the technician

 half of the problem 

so came home not being anymore 

well off than when I left.  

After many tries and many fails,

 it finally became clear what the problem was 

and I finally could fix it. 

And that is really saying something. 

 Now I have been noticing that an error occurs

 when I try to leave a comment on most blogs. 

 I haven't got a clue why 

but I will keep trying to find out the problem 

and be sure that I am reading them all anyway.

Until next time...

...xxoJudy...

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Love Your Creativity Link Party #258 | Life and Linda

SUCH IS LIFE...

As I was going over past thoughts in order to not repeat myself too much, 

I noticed that I have been signing off sometimes with "until next time". 

 The reason being that I am not always entirely sure when I will be back. 

 Whereas, in the past, I was posting once a week, come rain or shine,

 I am finding that I don't have as much new content to share these days 

and it doesn't do for me to show the same thing 

over and over again.

The last time I posted

 the garden was really just coming into its own...

...now the valerian is almost bloomed out 

and the coreopsis is so heavy with blossoms

 that it is hard to hold up its bright petals.  

The old school phlox is getting tall and will be ready to shine once again very soon. 

 Things they are a changing.

In life, as in all things, change is to be expected. 

 We all know that, but what we don't ever think about is how quickly change and time happens. 

 At first it seems that it is a long time away but then it sneaks up on you

 and you are left to wonder where did it all go?  

We all do, and will, go through it.  If we are lucky 

we have mostly good memories to show for it 

and that is what we should hold on to.  

If not, it can really take a toll on how you look

 at this amazing life you live 

and it can all go downhill pretty quickly.

  You might forget all the good things and quickly find that the bad things are taking center stage now. 

 The Captain and I are very lucky in the fact that we still have pretty good health

 in our golden (on the way to rust!) years. 

 He has been having trouble with his knee and has seen the doctor for it. 

The doc is amazed that he is only on one medication for his age.  That is to be celebrated.  

I get a shot in my eye which has now been carried up to 13 weeks apart,

that keeps me seeing and that is a very big celebration.

  The usual aches and pains associated with age are abundant

 and keep us from doing some things that a few short years ago were just taken for granted and although sometimes frustrating, we feel very fortunate.

 

My point in telling you all this is that very much like our garden,

 we are just going through the stages of life 

and will continue to flourish in spite of it all.

You have all seen the "Hoarder" shows on TV, 

I'm sure.  

They focus on someone who just can't seem to help keeping all that they can get their hands on

 and not letting go of any of it. 

 One certain item that I have never seen though, is this...

...does this not look like a hoarder's dream to you?   

Every time the Captain goes to Starbucks he gets two cups of coffee 

with these green sticks, so the coffee won't splash out on the ride home. 

 He has been a coffee aficionado 

since I have known him. 

 He will, and does, drink any cup of coffee

 he can get his hands on

 and loves every one of them. 

 I, on the other hand, don't usually like plain coffee

 but I do love a good caramel latte. 

 Unbeknownst to me,

 he has been saving these sticks. 

Why, you ask? 

 I can't even imagine

 in what world

 he might need these. 

 He can't answer that question either

 but today it gave him the opportunity to count them,

 times cups of coffee bought, 

and come up with a reason why we shouldn't go to Starbucks any more...$$$. 

 I have googled how to make a caramel latte and will soon try my hand at making them. 

 It will save money in the long run and, hopefully, do away with the Captain's hoarding problem.  

I seem to do enough of that for the both of us!

 (Just ask him).

Such is life as it goes 

round and round.

Until next time.  

Stay cool and enjoy the summer that is almost here.

...xxoJudy... 

I have added some new paintings here,

 one which has actually turned out to be frame worthy.

  It will stay until something better might come along.

Sharing today at :

Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND...

Hello Everyone! 

 Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  

We want to thank

 all the men and women who fought, 

and continue to fight so valiantly,

 so that we can still enjoy 

our rights to a free country. 

 Please don't let it be in vain.

The valerian is standing proud and bright 

and adds some beautiful patriotic color 

to the holiday garden.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful.  

Very balmy with a little breeze.

  An opportune time for some 

work in the garden and some porch sitting. 

 Here at the Cottage we feel so lucky 

to have a morning porch and a night time porch...

...the morning porch, 

otherwise known as the front porch, 

is the perfect place to sit 

and enjoy a first cup of coffee

 but as the day wears on the mosquitoes come out 

and then it can be a very unpleasant place to be...

...that is when we move to the screened porch

 and life becomes bearable again.

When the sun goes down

 the screened porch is really pretty

 with the twinkle lights

 and the ivy in the background

 in the Secret Garden.

We took a trip to the nursery last week 

and found a few things to add to the garden...

...some Batchelor Buttons...

...tiny zinnias...

...and cosmos.

The coreopsis that was planted a couple of years ago

 keeps returning and this year

 the buds are bigger than ever.

Everything is mixing in well 

with the Valerian, Old School Phlox,

 Lavender and California poppies 

so hopefully it will all be 

bright and beautiful in no time.

The Grand Illumination has returned.

Hope everyone is well 

and until next time...

...xxoJudy...

Sharing today with:

Love Your Creativity at Life nd Linda