HAPPY ...SPOOKY....HALLOWEEN !!!! TO EVERYONE!!!

BOO!!!!!!!!

altered card collage.....it has been raining on and off all day..which is fine by me! I love rain! I love to walk in it....to go to sleep listening to it....storms excite me!

I am going to carve pumpkins today! and bake iced pumpkin cookies....it is a perfect day to bake! It is RAINING outside! YIPPEE!!!!!!! Here is one of three pumpkins that will get carved....I love my purple sage flowers in the background!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!!!!!!!

They wanted a dollar for this little "rubbery" witch at the grocery store..I couldn't resist her...I set her on the dash board in my car!

On the search for the perfect pumpkin....

Mr. Toby Lee.....
I have been having trouble with the computer today...I know it is the ISP...they suck!!! I am going from one thing to the next at home ..working some in the studio...doing some dusting...making a cd....boiling eggs for egg salad sands for lunches...getting ready to make the bed...and being happy for my friend who just found out she is expecting! Just finished writing some letters....giving the flowers outside a drink of water....running to the store for some yogurt..tin foil...and bread...FORGOT the printer paper!!! Trying to look at some of my favorite blogs...messing around with this computer....and thinking about what kind of design I'm going to carve into the pumpkin tonight! I challenged my son to a contest......he told me he was the best pumpkin carver in the world!!! So...we shall see! Maybe I'll post pics of the finished pumpkins and who ever reads this can be the judge....

I looked out the sliding glass doors and caught Ty dancing on top of the picnic table...quick went and grabbed the camera!

I'm doing a set of soul collage cards...this is "Dream". I can't believe that it is Monday already! The weekend flew by...I did alot of nothing! I did spend all day yesterday on the computer looking up our family history....it is so engrossing and before I knew it the day was gone! I did learn that quite a few of my ancestors came out West from Missouri, via the Oregon Trail. I started reading articles about those immigrants and all the hardships they endured...my great great grandfather was only seven when he made the trip...along with his eight brothers and sisters and his mother...his Father had died the year earlier and his Mother made that trip by herself with her children...along with all the other families in the group. Can you imagine?!! They settled in the Portland area....very interesting reading!
Today is my "doing errands day"...shopping...paying bills..all that stuff! It should be called "Getting rid of your money day".

Let's all have a simply spellbinding weekend! This apc is for a orange and black swap...

The look on our poodle's face is priceless!!! Pure LOVE! I LOVE MY DOGGIE !!!!!!!!!!

I took one of those free "AOL' folders from Wal-mart..(you can find them in lots of stores)..and I collaged the pages and made my own music cd..the names of the songs are on the tag. This was fun! I love the idea of taking something that cost nothing ...and altering it...I'm in the process of making some gifts for the girls that are going to be in the bookbinding class I'm taking in November..this will be one of the gifts!

The outside pages of the folder

the inside of the folder...the page on the right gets folded in towards the left to create your pocket for a cd.

inside the folder at the beginning....

Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety-
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light-
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver's poetry stirs my soul.....this is such a wonderful poem to awaken to....
Doing more art today...going to the library..and try not to eat too much of the yummy carrot cake that I made yesterday! Found the recipe for the cake in a old (Kathy Lee and Regis) cookbook. It is divine...and I will post a picture and the recipe for it this weekend.

apc...from the Saint swap.

Up early this morning and decided to bake a carrot cake...well...after searching the whole entire house for baking soda..I finally realized I MUST take off my sweat pants....throw on my jeans and run to the grocery store for baking soda..Grrrrr.....I ended up here at the computer and started looking at blogs...I found another good one..called A Sweet Life.
http://asweetlife.blogspot.com
Michelle asks the question: "What five things do you miss about your childhood?" Here are my answers...
1. First of all..I miss my Mom..she passed away in 2000 from breast cancer. She was a great MOM..and I remember her playing with us kids when we were all small...she would strap on the toy gun and holster, and play cowboys and Indians with my brother...or play dress up with me..I would be Marilyn (Marilyn Monroe) and she would be Gina ...I would make her call me Marilyn all day..and we would walk around all day with high heels on..smoking a fake cigarette (back when smoking was cool)...I remember her voice and her laughter and really I miss them!
2. I miss Lancaster PA where I grew up....my cousin Rose who was like a sister to me..we are only 2 weeks apart in age..and we only lived two blocks from each other..we would play every day..go to the penny candy store on the corner and each buy a bag of candy! We would also roller skate (with the old metal skates)..play hopscotch...or decide to "Hula Hoop"...and one of our favorite things to do was to sit on the front porch and play jacks....
3. I miss the holidays...especially Christmas. My Dad would (every Christmas) build a huge platform underneath the Christmas tree and put up a train (old Lionel) with a village and all..even miniature ice skating ponds and hills with little skiers ...my brother and I would sit and watch that train for hours!
4. I miss soft pretzels. On Saturday mornings (early) the soft pretzel man would stand on the corner and yell "Soft Pretzels"...we would race in to Mom or Dad and quick get a quarter for a bag of hot fresh soft pretzels..yummy! (they never did the soft pretzel thing here in California).
5. I miss the colors of the seasons.....I miss my cousins....most of all I miss the whole family being together....I'm so grateful I had such a great childhood. Thanks Michelle...for the great question and bringing back all those good memories for me...time now to go to the store for that baking soda! (the picture is all of us kids in 1958)..I'm the one with her mouth open!

another hanging collage with beads....

hanging altered postcard collage....I did manage to get some art done today...I am making gifts for people and this is one of them...

This is going down our road.from the house....today (very soon) I have a doctor's appt. and then plan to come home and DO ART! I should know better than to make plans because every time I do...life happens! Anyway...I hope I can get something done..I'm working on a orange and black swap now....

more ducks....the darker duck in the photo sure has something to say!! These duckies are special for Catherine and Sam!

apc with fabric and embellishment...still so much art to post. It is early Monday morning and very windy right now...I'm doing some errands this morning..and this afternoon I am going to plant tulip bulbs...I only wished that the tulips lasted longer..they are so beautiful....

more art...altered postcard...collage.."LOVE"

Woke up Saturday morning to RAIN!!!!! Everything smelled so fresh and wonderful and clean....decided to go take some photos at Lumsden Park...stopped at Togos on the way for a hot pastrami sandwich..I'll call this trip "Park...wet ducks...and home"......
When we did get home we realized we had no power...and that was how it went for the rest of the afternoon until about 4...it is so amazing what we take for granted! I sat by the window for some light and worked on a collage for Illustration Friday...now..if only I can figure out how to post it???? This is the Purple Sage in the front yard...they were dripping with dew and so beautiful.

pond at the park..and "Betty White"...sittin pretty!

Lumsden Park...and the ducks..these two ducks were in love...they never left each other's side...and they were very affectionate towards each other.

more ducks at the park.....

Nothing is better than this...when we got home this was Ty and Toby running up the road to meet us.....

Toby and Pat...Pat is our friend, and Toby's groomer. Yesterday she made Toby very handsome! I'm sure he won't stay nice and clean and white for long...it is raining and very muddy outside today! The rain is actually WONDERFUL!!!!! it makes everything smell fresh and new...the first rain of the season...looks like more photos are in store for today....I'm going outside to sit on the porch right now and soak up that "rain smell".......

Beautiful angel taken at the Cameron Park Cemetery...Today is Friday!!! Yippee!!!! All I can say is "Never take your 90 year old Dad to Wal-Mart"! I thought I was bad! now I know how An must feel! My Dad had to stop at EVERYTHING and look! AND...I do mean EVERYTHING!!! Didn't get home until after one in the afternoon...exhausted! Then...went over to my son's to help him move...I am sore today...getting ready to take my little noodle in to get groomed...."No rest for the weary"...or is it the "wicked"??????? Anyway...I AM TIRED!

Soaring free....no worries.....wings spread...lovin life....checkin things out....the only way to go...

This photo was taken at the park...."Berries". I'm off to take my Dad to the lab for some blood work....then I'm taking him shopping at Wal-mart.....later I'm going to bake an apple pie....

Pumpkins everywhere!!! After leaving the park yesterday we headed up to the Camino Post Office..I had the remainder of the money I needed to send for my bookbinding class in November down in Turlock...and a large envie full of ART for some swaps..we drove thru "Apple Hill" on the way...and here is what it look like....the days are warm and perfect right now...on the way home we stopped at one of the apple barns and I bought a cinnamon apple pie caramel apple!!! Man oh Man!!! was that ever yummy!!!! Andy is back to work today..and I'm back in the art room......I've been cutting up a huge box of images that I have been saving...and working on some little gifts for the girls who will be at the bookbinding class in November.....

Our trip yesterday to "Gold Bug Park"...this is a very old small quaint little park just a few miles from downtown Placerville. There are some very OLD mines here that you can tour...and you can try your hand at gold panning...also a very old stamp mill where they crushed the rock to extract all the gold from...there are picnic tables...a small little gift shop (photo above)..and numerous walking trails...even though they mined tons of gold from this area..they say that 80% of it is still in the ground! Andy liked to go metal detecting up here before it became so commercial. We had the whole park to ourselves yesterday except for the nice elderly lady in the gift shop who started telling us some old stories about a man called "The Goat Doctor" who lived in the area and was a "healer"...I read the book about him...but listened to her story anyway..she was nice..and looked somewhat lonely sitting in the little gift shop all by herself....here are some photos from yesterday..."The trip to Gold Bug".....

Still at the park...(I love these little photo trips)...Here is the entrance to the Priest Mine..and the steps leading up to it.....there were about 100 of these steps...great exercise!

more photos of the park..walking along the trail...and the entrance to Gold Bug Mine....

Going to take photos today of "Gold Bug Park"...I will post some later...getting ready to go do some more errands..and make a stop at the thrift store..since it is on the way to the post office!

Another lovely morning in Paradise...looks to be a warm one! Will be running around today doing lots of errands...finishing up the art room...and taking more photos...I have gone wild with the camera! The apc is called "Rose"....I am still working on putting all the art into a different area...and all listed under categories....such as altered trading cards....altered postcards...collage...altered books...and misc. I thought I had it all set up...and then I changed my mind....it will be coming soon!