Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Proof Positive

Spent the afternoon at the organic farm. This year she added strawberry plants.  

As we were picking the luscious beauties I decided that strawberries might very well be evidence that there is a Creator God Who loves us very much. 

organic Iowan grown strawberries and sugar snap peas

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Settling in and Slither no More...

H.C. or D-MEC or Ono

Our friendly little porch kitty is still just that. He sleeps in a laundry basket, curled up on a towel. Then every afternoon when the sun shines directly on the porch he finds somewhere to go where it's cooler. Then he comes back for dinner. So very friendly.

Apparently, I have a new cat. I've decided that since our indoor cat is named Feral Will, that we should think along the Will Ferrel path for a name. I think I'll call him H.C. for Harold Crick. Stranger than Fiction. Which, if you have not seen it, you really should. Such a good movie. I digress.

I did think of a couple more names. D-MEC. Don't Make Eye Contact and Ono as in oh no!

Feral Will...not amused.

We'll see. I'm wondering if someone is missing him.

And our church Facebook is posting pictures of the Moore clean up project. In the batch is one of my husband holding a dead snake. A dead Copperhead.

Not enough words or exclamation points. Ya know?! (Be glad I didn't include that picture!)

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Drifting

Since my mom was concerned about my moment of melancholy...someone else might be, too.  It was just a small dark cloud that only left behind a poem...

Darkness sighs at 2:00 a.m.

Tendrils of sulphur tinted sorrow waft over me.

I sink further into my slumber

Midnight velvet weeps. Witching hour past.

Ebony shards, shattered slivers of brittle coal tears

I toss and dream

Lightless eternity shrieks at 3:45.

Moans scented of hopeless decay.

Ghouls shimmy, unseen, behind the curtain of life.

Senses, skin alert, I awaken. Startled. And drift, dazed, into blessedly dreamless sleep.

Shadows, sorrow, fear play hide and seek in my mind 

Night clutches. Holding me until it's grip weakens. One spindly finger at a time, ground lost until it's grasp slips into gray. 

And then the sun. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Weekend Shenanigans...and Stuff

Every year we have a large five block art fair where folks from all over the country line the streets of downtown Omaha with their fine art offerings. 

We attend most years. The fair was this weekend. And this weekend...to put it succinctly...stunk. 

Our plans were to hit the farmer's market then walk over to the event. Several of us started out with coffee and headed on over to meet the others. And then it began to rain. We ducked into tents to avoid some of the water. And then it began to pour. 

Since Rob wasn't keen on wet feet, or rivulets coursing down his back, and Toad Boy and the Mrs were neutral, I hitched a ride home with Rob and skipped it. However, I had already entered drowned rat territory. And we decided to make a quick stop at Hobby Lobby to find more frames to finish our picture wall. I got a few looks when we walked in, me looking like I'd fallen overboard. 

I think Feral thought the confusing black dots were bugs. Yep. They kinda resemble bugs. 

I feel really sorry for the artists. That's gotta be a costly loss for them. Sunday wasn't much better, finally clearing off at about 4:00 p.m.  

The rain brought some other interesting things. I discovered a robin nest on the light. Good thing we don't use that one very often. And a cat showed up out of nowhere and decided to camp out on our front porch during the two day deluge. It's a friendly little bugger and, of course, we did the one thing you are never supposed to do with an animal....we fed it...and set out a warm, dry towel in a basket for sleeping comfort. Sigh. 

This is our travels window. I love the screen. We've got collages and picture art from New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and Seattle/Portland. 

one more large frame and it'll be done.

one of the frames full of fun memories.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Violin Tales

Yesterday I had my....let me see... about 17th somethingish violin lesson. 

I'm still in book one. Almost finished with book one. I've learned the 5 notes on each of the 4 strings = 20 notes. I've "learned" whole, half, quarter and eighth note and the approximate timing of each. cough.cough. cricket. I'm playing segments of symphonies. By playing segments I mean like 25 notes. 

Anyhoo. So with all these skilz you'd think the lesson was stellar.

A few months ago I asked for stickers for when I had a great day. Yesterday I got a sticker. 

Backstory. The sticker is part and parcel of a package of stickers I bought and gifted to my frustrating/adorable/sarcastic/funny/talented/taskmaster/teacher. I figured if I bought the stickers he couldn't use the old excuse. "I don't have stickers." Direct quote, by the way. 

So what amazing thing did I do to get my sticker?  Wait for it. Wait for it.

Failure to stick in the upper portion of my bow to make for successful bowing technique that utilizes proper posture, hand usage and pleasant tone versus sqwackage type crapola. This is a paraphrased quote.

Note that the sticker is a skull and crossbone...as in death to those who cross here. I feel intimidated to practice this week.

On a lighter note. This adorable drawing was done by a five-year-old student. Likely, he is way more advanced than me, in violin skills, as well as art. More good news. I get to move to a new book. Bad news attached to the good news? A different company's violin book. Book number 1. Yes. I'm getting a new Book 1. I'm pretty sure the five-year-old artist conquered it when he was three.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ It Can Only Get Better, Right?

Odd day. It seems I either pass out for 10-15 minutes at a time and startle awake to the reality that 10 or 15 minutes has passed and I've moved at a snail's pace, or been frozen in time. Seriously. My 20 minute bathroom routine took 40, making coffee and two sandwiches seemed to take a lifetime and while I was thinking how I could be clever and quick about this blog post I heard a noise. 

Because I apparently have one speed, molasses on a January day, it took me a few second to place said noise. That of a cat eating. Since the cat food bowl is in the bathroom, I pondered and considered, what is Feral eating? 

My oatmeal. Thank you very much! 

Strange day indeed. One wherein time seems to be anti-magical and I share my oatmeal with a cat.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ What I've Been Up To Lately

Guest room remodel....mostly done. Four pictures to hang.

Family picture collage on the stairwell...in progress

My bedroom redo. I need to put all the finishing touches (and close that drawer on my dresser!!!!)

Totally a blank canvas. I have burlap curtains to hang. I'm excited that those turned out the way they did. And I need to paint on my window. And add some bolder "seascape" colored accents to pull everything together. I think this is my weekend project. Bare walls are intimidating to me.