Okra

Is it worth the effort?

My family loves fried okra, but it's the vegetable that fights back! 

The first challenge is just to pick it. You have to put on long sleeves and gloves - even if it's a 98 degree July day - to keep the pricklies from your arms and hands. Then you need a long sharp knife to reach in and cut off the pods. 

The second challenge is the beginning of preparation. To slice okra is no less than disgusting. What is it with the slime that comes out when you begin to slice it! After that's rinsed off, okra becomes a pleasure.

I've learned to prepare it to save for winter.
Slice.
Rinse.
Toss with cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper.
Lay out (with slices not touching) on waxed paper on a cookie sheet.
Freeze (for at least 24 hours)
Put in a bag and keep in the freezer until you're ready to use it.

Visit Sweet Smell of Spring to enjoy an Etsy treasury (collection of art pieces and vintage items) put together in celebration of springtime on the farm.  Or, visit Fall Fruits & Vegetables,  The Taste of Summer, Too Hot to Cook... Summer Salad Time or  Good for You - Fruits and Veggies for yummy / healthy treasuries. Then visit  Oh, John the Rabbit  or What's for Dinner? for a whimsical twist on the theme.  "Okra" also got to represent Arkansas in Natural State. and in I Was Born in Little Rock. Finally visit Some Like it Pink for a surprise - who knew okra could be pink!

:) Hike...

How can a spring break near home be special?


We ate at local restaurants that we'd never been to.
We rented movies, slept late, cleaned the garage (oops... not fun...)
And...
     We followed a hiking trail to a place called Glory Hole.

The trip down was lovely even though spring hadn't quite yet sprung.

Then a curtain of water...

 Wow.......

A little rest and a snack...

Pose for a picture...

The trip back UP seemed a lot longer... sigh...

Fuchsia

Who doesn't love fuchsia!


Fuchsia is such a vibrant, fantastic color that a little goes a long way.  It takes some self confidence to wear fuchsia.  And, who paints a room fuchsia, buys fuchsia couch, or makes it a team jersey color?  
But then, who wouldn't love to paint a room fuchsia, sit on a fuchsia couch, or cheer for the team in fuchsia!
And who wouldn't love to have this gorgeous fuchsia plant growing by their front porch!


This little painting was done as a challenge piece for Artistic Sentiments.  I love to see the varied styles when artists paint from the same point of inspiration.


To purchase this little painting (and it's framed), click "Fuchsia."

Tomato Slices

What's the perfect food?


Not a store tomato....
  Not a tomato in winter...
    Not a hydroponic one...
      Not a cold one...


A sun-warmed, home-grown tomato!  


My mom and dad know how to grow the perfect crop of tomatoes.  
1.) Decide (It's a gamble.) when you think the last frost has come and gone.  
2.) Buy some Early Girl, some Better Boy, and some Beefsteak plants at the Coop.  
3.) Cover the ground around the little plants with newspaper (to keep the weeds out later).  
4.) Put big cages around the little plants (because they'll grow huge and fill the cages) to keep them off the ground (where the tomatoes will rot).  
5.) Then, just keep them watered and wait for them to turn red (but not too red - I like them orangy-red)

Click on You Like Tomato, I Like Tomahto,  Red Tomato, Tomato, Tomado,  How Does Your Garden Grow,  Ode to the Tomato, or Tomato or Red to enjoy a Etsy treasuries (collections of vintage items and art work) celebrating the tomato.  Eat Your Vegetables or Good Enough to Eat are other treasuries that are colorful celebrations of all vegetables.  Healthy Ideas will encourage you to make good choices - including eating tomatoes! Through the Picture Plane celebrates the magic of paint.  And Food Paintings is just that, paintings of food.

Yum!

Why don't we ever make Jello anymore?


I used to love Jello, especially when my mom made it in these tiny little tin molds that we had.  It just seemed to taste better if it was in a special shape.  Maybe I'll pick up a box the next time I go shopping.  


Check out Jello is Lots of Fun.  It's an Etsy treasury (collection of vintage items and art pieces) all celebrating Jello! Falling for Orange celebrates the color. Then click on Jelly for another yummy collection.


And, I did a search in the vintage section of Etsy and found the exact tin molds my mom used to use for our special Jello treats!  

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Monarch Butterfly

Have you read Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary?  


You must!
There's a section when the main character goes to a butterfly grove, a place in California where the monarchs stop during their yearly migration.  He doesn't notice anything but what looks like little sticks... until the clouds move back, and the sun shines.  Then all the monarchs open their wings.  He's surrounded by orange as the thousands of butterflies silently fill the air.


I'm sad to learn that their population is diminishing.  I'm going to commit to do my part and plant some milkweed this summer.  That's the plant where they lay their eggs and that their caterpillars eat.


Enjoy an Etsy treasury (collection of art pieces and vintage items) that features this little painting among many other pieces in a celebration of butterflies in art.  Click Flying, Floating, Fascinating... Butterflies.


"Monarch Butterfly" was done as a submission to the January challenge for the Paint and Draw Together site.  It's intriguing to see the many artistic variations on the same image.

White Daisy

What color is white?


I'm going back the very beginning with this one.  I just had my painter's birthday.  Four years ago, I picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in some paint, and smeared it onto a canvas.  I painted a tree that night.  My homework after that class was to paint another tree.  The next week, the art lesson was to paint something black and white.  I did a cup... but it was awful, truly awful!  I don't believe I have the courage to post a picture of it.   The third week, we had to paint something white, and the lesson was to see that white wasn't white at all - but filled with colors.
This is a concept that still amazes me.  

Cucumber Slices

How many cucumbers does one seed produce?


Every spring we plant a package of cucumber seeds.  It's a tiny little bag, and it seems wrong not to plant them all.  But, every year we end up with hundreds of cucumbers.


Those first ones are so good!  They're small and sweet and crunchy.  And, they have about zero calories each!  For a week or so it's a couple while picking them, one for snack, two for lunch, another for supper. Then repeat for a few days until... yuck.  But, by that time they're getting ripe by the buckets.  Time for pickles!  I wrote about that process on  the July 21st entry. It's "yum" all over again; however, I think the 35 pounds of cucumbers mixed with the 35 lbs of sugar changes the calorie content.


Finally, everyone's sick of them, the neighbor's have all had their fill of them, and they just grow big and fat and turn yellowish and taste bitter.  That's about the point where they become "snozzcumbers."  (Snozzcumbers are the nasty, 10-foot, striped, warty cucumber-like vegetable that are eaten by the Big Friendly Giant in The B.F.G.  by Roald Dahl.)


Ode to Cucumber is a great summer treasury honoring the cucumber.  Or, have a look at Art Salad then Gathering, Preserving, and Sharing the Bounty. Take your pick between one  Cool as a Cucumber or another  Cool as a Cucumber, Then click on Lettuce Eat Salad,  Nice Greenery, or Summer Garden Greens to enjoy Etsy treasuries (collections of vintage items and art pieces) that celebrate the color of summer. Or click on Fresh from the Farm or  Farm Fresh Country for collections that will put you back on the farm for a minute.

:) She Said YES! (Stages)

How did you do that?


For me... one stage at a time...

She Said YES!

Will you marry me?


Awwww.....   So many ways these four little words have been proposed...  (When I heard them I was sitting on a park bench.)


I see a past, present, and future in this image.  A big kiss for theYES right now.  A ride through the mud in Grandpa's old truck for back then.  And, a hillside in the Ouachitas for a home someday...

Red House in Summer

Was the paint store having a sale on that color?


Have you ever wondered that after seeing some gaudy-colored house?  Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder why.  Other times I'm kind of impressed that they had the courage to do it.


I remember reading a book called The Big Orange Splot to my kids when they were little. It's about a guy - Mr. Plumbean, if I remember correctly - who gets a bucket of orange paint dropped on his roof by a seagull.  He keeps the splot then continues to decorate his house to be just like he likes it - much to his neighbor's chagrin.  After much fussing, they each decide to do the same.


FYI... My house is kind of a non-color, maybe khaki...  The thought was that it would blend in with the tree trunks.  Mr. Plumbean would be so disappointed in me...


But, I do love this little red farmhouse!  Visit Oh I Wish I Were on the Farm or Farm LIfe to enjoy Etsy treasuries (collections of art and vintage items) celebrating the life on the farm.


I painted this in response to the Rookie Painter Challenge 15.  Click and enjoy seeing all the different variations of this red house. 

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Snow Cardinal

When you catch a glimpse of unexpected color in nature, do you stop to appreciate it?


There's a line in The Color Purple implying that God isn't happy with us when we see the color purple in a field and don't stop to notice it. 


How about the daffodils that poke their heads up before spring arrives? 


Red clover on a hill?  


A hummingbird's throat?

A baboon's behind?


Of course sunsets and rainbows.


And cardinals in the snow...                                          


This little bird and his wife teased me during our last snow day.  Right outside my window they'd flit and fly.  They'd find a perch, then off they'd go.  Finally, just once, he sat still long enough for me to snap his picture!

Original Oil Painting
[SOLD]

Lots of Love & Kisses

Happy Valentine's Day!

Andrew's Guitar

What do you listen to while you paint?


If I'm at my art teacher's studio, it's classical or instrumental Christian.


If it's Saturday morning, it's CNN or maybe an audio book.


If it's afternoon, evening, or late at night, it's country!  Woo Hoo!  Probably Brad Paisley!

:) Home...

There's no place like home...

Grandpa's Smokehouse

Why don't we pay more attention when we have the opportunity?

I would love to tell a story about what adventures my cousins and I had in or behind this smokehouse.  I'm sure they'd be fascinating.  But, I have to admit that I never paid any attention to it.  It sat there between my grandparents' house and their garden and never seemed interesting.  I guess its time had passed.  By the time I came along, there were refrigerators for storing meat and super markets for selling it any day of the week.


I wonder what went on in there... I wonder how often it was used... I wonder if it was clean or nasty... I wonder what the process was for actually smoking the meat... I wonder if maybe it still sits near Meyer Creek near Crystal Springs outside of Hot Springs...


"Grandpa's Smokehouse" was one of the paintings chosen for an Etsy treasury (collection of art pieces and vintage items) called A Day in the Farm with  My Grandpa.  Also check out At the Farmhouse where each item in the collections make you long for the simplicity of  your grandpa's and grandma's house.  And, finally, visit Spring for reminders that winter will come to a close soon!

Original Oil Painting - 16"x 20" 
[SOLD]


Grandpa's Smokehouse" can be purchased in several forms.
Contact me if you'd like to purchase this image as a giclee, a print, or note cards.

Lots of Love & Kisses Reflected

What's the best thing about Valentine's Day?

Roses?  Cards?  Chocolates?  Dinner out?


I have a confession... I stick my thumb into the bottom of each little chocolate.  I know, yuck... but... I like to know what's what in that big red heart-shaped box!

Visit Etsy treasuries (collections of art pieces and vintage items) celebrating love, hugs, and kisses called Crash into Love,  Embrasse Moi or another called Things Symbolic of Valentine's Day for a reminder of all the favorite traditions.  It's a collection that will spur you on to get ready for that next special day!
.

Love & Kisses Reflected

Remember Valentine's Day when you were a kid?

I always get a kick out of watching my students at the school valentine party.  After they get settled with their treats, they open each little card.  The cards all kind of say the same thing, but they love them!  I just sort of walk around and listen.  "Ooo.. this one says love!" "Hey, nobody signed this one!  Who's it from?"  "I got three that are just alike!" They rip off any candy that has been taped on and throw away all the envelopes.  Then they put them all back into the valentine bag they've made.  I know they'll reread them, organize them, and put them in a special place at home.  Fun...


Enjoy some fun Etsy treasuries (collections of vintage items and art pieces) that include ""Love & Kisses Reflected."  Click Sealed with a Kiss, Kisses, Opposites Attract and Valentine Day: Red, Pink, Purple... to  have a look!  

:) Sisters...

Can all the facets "sisters" be defined in words?


Probably not...  These lovely ladies are my sisters, sisters-in-law, and me. 
In our family we are collectively known as "The Aunts."  


How blessed I am to be a part of this group!


I'm showing my sisters today because of a poem by Margaret Bednar.  She took a painting that I had submitted to a challenge for In the Moment and wrote the loveliest poem about sisters.  I love this poem on so many levels.  Enjoy!

Hand in Hand

Fingers clasped, palms together
Made of the same sweet design
We can face all kinds of weather

Special gift to one another
You are dear, sister of mine
Fingers clasped, palms together

Some call you "little mother"
My eyes simply see "divine"
We can face all kinds of weather

You encourage constant blather
And offer a safe lead line
Fingers clasped, palms together

I can be quite a bother
From your lips never a whine
We can face all kinds of weather

Protector like no other
Our hearts will always intertwine
Fingers clasped, palms together
We can face all kinds of weather

by Margaret Bednar


This is the painting, "Hand in Hand," that made Margaret want to write her poem.
It can be purchased in several forms.
12" x 12" giclee
8" x 8" giclee
8" x 8" print

Love & Kisses

How many ways are there to say I love you?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love and Kisses!

XOXO

These little hearts and silver wrapped chocolates say it all without any words at all!

Oritinal Oil Painting

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