My Grandad is having heart surgery

I wanted to ask you to pray for my Grandad. He is having a triple bypass tomorrow morning (Fri. Sept. 26th) at 7:30 am. We are believing for a successful surgery, a quick recovery, and that he will feel better than he has felt in years. Grandma is taking him to the hospital today and checking him in tonight. My parents will go be there tomorrow and be there through the surgery. I'll give you an update as soon as I hear how it went.

This is the only Grandad I have left and he is very precious to me. He's got many years left in him and I want him around for every one of them.

(And if you'll remind me after this is all over, I'll tell you the story Grandma told me yesterday about going to get dentures for Grandad in Elk City. It was pretty funny.) (To clarify--there is nothing funny about getting dentures in and of themselves, it was the place they went, etc. and how Grandma described it that was so funny!)

(Special "Happy Birthday" wishes to my two cousins, Sherri and Cynthia (not twins), who have birthdays tomorrow! Have lots of fun, girls!)

I found a Mushroom Village!

What an incredible little mushroom village! We were walking along and BAM, there it was. I could not look away and convinced Buppa to go over with me so I could get some pictures to show you. I thought I'd seen it all with the mushroom tower and the mushroom huddle, but to find a mushroom village takes the cake! Very interesting...and shockingly beautiful.

Looking out the window

When it isn't so hot, Pooker will turn the air-conditioner off and open the windows. Brownie's bed (one of many) is right here in front of it and she loves to sit on it and watch what all is going on outside.

So many beautiful leaves...

We've been running into lots of beautiful leaves on our walks. They grab my attention and I can't move on until I've got a picture (or two or three). Their rich colors and shapes and textures are so much fun to look at. I guess it was "officially" fall three days ago, so should be seeing lots of colorful leaves in the next month.

Mushroom, anyone?

We ran across this little one on a walk. I love its little brownish/orangish/reddish top! Very unusual...and somewhat beautiful in its simplicity.

My cousin at Brookside Artzz 2008

Here is my cousin's booth at the Brookside Artzz show. She, too, got a canopy this year and we were all much happier for having some shade. She does paintings, using all sorts of media, even prints of her photos, dying the canvas, etc. She loves fabric and textures and exploring all those things. She likes coming up with new things or trying new techniques. Her booth seemed to get a lot of traffic and she spoke to many of the people and got a lot of compliments on her work. She even got offered a show in a local coffee shop after the first of the year!

She didn't sell any paintings, but with all that feedback and the possibility of a show in January, she had a good day. It was lots of fun to do this show together and I'm pretty sure we'll do this same one again next year. The cost of the booth is pretty low, it is good exposure, and we're in good company. Until next year, Brookside Artzz!

My sister at Brookside Artzz 2008

Here is my sister's booth at the Brookside Artzz festival. Hers was attached to mine as we shared one of the panels (not shown) where she had some of her photography and frames my brother made from old corral wood. She is very creative and makes these wonderful handmade cards, decorative pails (either filled or empty for possibilities), and handmade announcements and invitations. She also had three sizes of paper boxes for sale, which were handmade by our other sister (one can be seen in the above picture in front of the pails).

I have to say that she did quite well at the show. Lots of people in her booth and she kept getting asked if she had a store somewhere (that's how professional her cards, etc. look!). She sold a lot of cards, four boxes, and a pail! I am really happy for her and am excited about her success. If you want to look at her website and contact her, just scroll down my blog and you'll find her information near the bottom on the right (handmade cards).

Brookside Artzz 2008

Well, here was my booth at the Brookside Artzz festival on Saturday. It turned out to be a beautiful day for it. We got there at 8 am and set up. Since I had over 50 paintings to hang, it took me until around 10:30 to finish. It was advertised at starting at 11:00, but I knew that there would be people there before that and we wanted to be ready.

There were a lot of people who came by. It's always interesting to watch the people. Some will come by, barely glance at anything and continue on. Others will come in and glance around a little, then move on. And the rest will come in and look at everything before moving on. I could tell there was one man who really wanted to purchase several paintings because he kept coming back to certain ones. He didn't end up getting any, but I appreciated his interest. I had one man tell me he could tell I really enjoyed painting. And a girl came up to me and asked me how I painted them and told me she loved them. Other than that, I read lips from some people who would point to their companions and say things like "Cool" or "I like that."

I had several friends stop by, which was so nice to have their support. All in all, a fun day. I made $3.25 in sales. Yes, that's right. I sold 5 gift tags (thanks, Mel!) and 3 postcards (thanks, Vanessa!). A little disheartening to not sell any paintings (especially considering how much work goes into it, that it is the third time I've had a show and not sold any, and that it gets tiring working so hard for little to no return, especially when you factor in the cost of the booth). But, I'll keep at it. With enough rest and positive thoughts, I can start to prepare for my next show on October 10th and 11th where I'll share a booth at the Indie Emporium (an inside show!) with my sister.

A few interesting things...

We've ran across some interesting things on our walks. I love the colors on this little acorn above and I liked the interesting texture of the "hat" on the acorn below.

There is a man who walks around in the park hitting golf balls. I've found several of his balls laying around (no pun intended).

And this little thing falls off some of the trees we walk under. Again, I like the texture of it!

Speaking of things falling out of trees, on our walk this morning Buppa and I were walking under a tree and I could hear bits of something hitting the ground periodically. I looked up and found a cute little squirrel sitting up in the tree, hunched over a large nut. He'd pull of a hunk shell with his teeth and he'd go "pfffft" and spit it out of his mouth, lobbing it just a bit, and it would fall down and hit the ground. We both watched for a little bit as he systematically worked his way around the shell of that nut, safely out of the way of the falling bits. I had a big smile on my face as we continued on.

I've got a few things left to do today to get ready for the show tomorrow. Everything is on target, the weather looks good, and I'm looking forward to the possibilities. (And as of 9:00 this morning, I know I can put the canopy up by myself. Not that I'll be putting it up by myself, but it is always good to know what one is capable of.)

Various scenery shots

These various scenery shots were taken on our walks during the past month. The first three were taken different days and the last three were taken the same day.

I'm still working to get everything together for my art show on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be sure to take pictures so I can show you what it all looked like (in case you were unable to attend). I think my new, wonderful canopy will make a tremendous difference. I'm more relaxed and outgoing when I'm not sweating profusely.