The Painting

I told you I was working on something...here is the end result.  A few close-ups below.  But first, here's the story.  A few weeks ago our pastor said something that I immediately saw in my mind's eye as something I just had to get on canvas.  During communion he said we are finite and can only stretch so far, but God reaches down to us.  It really touched me.  So here is the result.

That we are finite and can only stretch so far, Yet God in His infinite grace and mercy would reach down to lift us up; How great a love is this.

A Surprise

I found this guy on our gate and thought he was quite fearless and beautiful!

Our Children

We are asked pretty regularly if we have children, usually my response is; "We have dogs."  Recently we had a new addition.  The newest member of our family is TJ.  Please forgive the fuzzy quality...she moves pretty fast and was not in the mood to be photographed.  She made our porch her home 11 months ago, and decided to adopt us I guess because she stayed.  She is such a loving cat and quite helpful too (bringing us many "presents" over the last months).  So now, I just say we have pets, they are our children.

Our oldest is Brighton.  I've had him since he was six weeks old, and he's my baby.  He's half miniature Dachshund and half Labrador.  He's beautiful and his whole goal in life is playing ball.  He's ALWAYS happy, unless someone is outside our house acting strangely.  He is a great guard dog.

Our middle child is Kerbie.  She and Brighton have the same mother (mini Dachshund), but she was born to a litter a year later.  The vet thinks she has either a Beagle or Rottweiler as a father.  She's just happy.

We love our babies and life wouldn't be the same without them! 

Other goings On

Also for the last 2 weeks, I've really wanted some Nacho Cheese Doritos.  I can't eat very many at one time, and they smell horrid, but I just REALLY wanted some.  However, I never picked any up at the store, so today my wonderful husband bought them for me.  They tasted AMAZING!

While the a/c was out I still had a couple projects I wanted to work on so I moved my sewing machine to the dining room table (in front of the window unit) and got busy.  Here are a couple shots of the work in progress;

Trimmings from many half square triangles and pinwheels.  

Blocks before sewing on the sashing...hopefully that will happen this week.  I'm excited for this Christmas quilt.

This is my favorite wine.  I just thought you should know.  It's amazing.  Gewurztraminer from Llano Vineyards...sweet and spicy.

This is just a small glimpse of a painting in progress.  Something our pastor said last week really struck me and I just HAD to get it on the canvas.  It's close, but not quite there yet.  You'll see when it's done.

Until the next time, you might consider going to Albertson's and indulging in this;

Snicker's cake.  It is a dreamy creation that will make your mouth oh so happy.  Don't feel guilty either because they have a coupon for an 8" round that is only $3.99!  I'm not ashamed one bit.  It was a fantastic compliment to my Doritos for dinner!!

The new to us Porcelain

As I mentioned, we had several new to us boxes of porcelain to go through.  Here are some pictures of the wonderful treasures passed down to us from Aunt Mildred who was a phenomenal china painter.

 Just a look at it all in the floor....well, most of it.  And there are about 20 plates all stacked up because there wasn't enough space in our living room to actually spread it all out. *Edit* Please also note the bins to the left that contain numerous vials of powdered paints which are VERY difficult to come by in my house because of the cost.

Some beautiful Tulip Style tea cups and a little Christmas village waiting for the colors of the season.

A cute little birdie sitting in it's nest, some picture frames, plates, and several footed bowls.

Lots of little Texas ornaments, and even some ceramic soup spoons.

A lovely piece that just needs to go in the kiln (when we find a way to power it).

Do you see it? 

This beautiful little Japanese tea cup held quite a surprise.

A nice little Geisha staring back when you drink your tea.

This turtle needs to be fired, but I thought he was awfully cute.

Some ceramic eggs waiting to be decorated for Easter.  I've wanted to make some of these since the first time I saw the ones in my in-law's house that Mildred painted.

Some of the AMAZING talent of Mildred also known as Millie.  I fell in love with this as soon as the wrapping came off.   I don't know that I will ever be capable of this.

And last but definitely not least, my favorite piece of the whole lot.  This little flying pig ornament made me laugh and certainly made me think of Mildred more than anything else in the bunch.  It took me several days to get all this unpacked, and a few more to get it all packed back up to put in the garage/studio until I can do something with it.  I'm itching to get started.