A Sunday Stroll

Song - Potato Head Blues by Louis Armstrong


Spring has Sprung.

Please join me this week for a walk in my garden.

Come on through the arbor on this lovely Sunday morning!

Last week my oldest son Andy helped me put in my vegetable garden. 

Love those strong muscles!

We put in 9 tomato plants into some great new soil. 

The last few years I haven't been able to grow tomatoes and I don't know why (other than Mika & Max would help themselves to what they could reach!). 


But this is THE year!

The Chives are from last year.  I love their sweet scent.

State Fair Zinnia's planted among the Cilantro and Chives.

And 6 - YES-six-can-you-believe-it-? - zuccini plants.

Mr. Fish watching over the Rosemary & Tomatoes.

I just love Spring don't you?

It feels like a fresh start.

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vegetables.html#tv7026Ob4ZCW1TPq.99

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.” 
 - Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
 

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vegetables.html#tv7026Ob4ZCW1TPq.99

Abstraction & Jazz

Song - Take Five by Dave Brubeck

Earlier this week I took a workshop in Orinda from Sandy Ostrau. She is an incredible artist from Palo Alto. 

Sandy painting a figure

As I seem to have hit a plateau with my painting and I needed to shake things up a little.

So I have been thinking lately that I would like to paint a little more abstractly and more impressionistically instead of being so "fussy".  You know the fussy thing I mean? It's when you paint everything down to the last minutiae so the viewer doesn't need to think about much.

Sandy's landscape demo

But when you paint more abstractly, the viewer knows it's a landscape or a figure but it is done in such rich colors and lovely form that the viewer becomes a participant.

One of my favorite figuratives of Sandy's done from the rendering below

Pretty amazing, huh?


Sandy had asked us to bring along several painted canvases that we would then paint over. I have lots of those!!!

Unfortunately, I don't have a "before" photo to share but trust me.....this was rendered fairly realistically but just didn't knock my socks off. But now it sings....not like Sandy's but hey.....it was my first attempt!

So at lunch we got to talking about how a lot of people just don't "get it", meaning abstract work.  People walk by and say "Oh my kid could do that!"  But amazingly it is difficult to break down all of the components into large, strong shapes!

I compared it to Jazz.  There is the kind of jazz that is melodic and you kind of know what's coming next.  But there are other kinds that I have trouble following.  I think abstract painting is kind of like that.  Some abstracts will blow your mind because you can't seem to get it (and maybe you are not supposed to!) and others you can follow and recognize as a landscape or a figure.  Somehow that feels a little more settling to me. 

Love this one of Sandy's as well!

It was a great workshop and I actually had fun playing with my paint!


Please check out Sandy's work here - www.sandyostrau.com

 
 "Ah, swing, well, we used to call it syncopation, then they called it ragtime, then blues, then jazz.  Now, it's swing.  White folks - you'all sho is a mess!"  --Louis Armstrong talking with Bing Crosby

twentyeight

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON

Johnny Be Goode - Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen

Just when did my little Jonny get to be 28 years old and a man?

This is how I will always picture him in my heart.  He has always been a hard working, happy guy!

Making Stone Soup with Andy.  Andy gave the directions and did the stirring while Jon collected all of the stones and grass or whatever his brother told him to do.

He was very independent and would balance out joy & reward with punishment when he was told not to do something.

One day I found him starting to cross the street without adult supervision.

"Jon, if you cross the street without asking, you will have a time out"
After considerable consideration and weighing the two very carefully....
"OK mom, I'll cross the street and take my time out!"
And then he went skipping out the front door!

But kids do grow up and Jon has grown into a caring, loyal, interesting man. (but he will always be my baby!)

 Can you just see the sweetness pouring out of this little boy

Jon and his cousin's Sean & Paul and brother Andy getting ready for a Super Bowl game

 

 

Jon in Santa Cruz

Jon in Disneyland pouring so much cheese onto his spaghetti that he clogged the cheese dispenser.  I'm not sure if I know who that guy next to him is with the HUGE glasses on???Mmmmm......

 This was his neighborhood bud through grade school - Marco.

Jon has always loved animals and still does....ask me to tell you about Joe Montana sometime!

Jon with his cousin Sean & brother Andy on Halloween

For awhile in high school Jon played drums in a band called "Losing Autumn".  Guess who's house they practiced at????  The orange hair thing was only for a weekend while they competed in Battle of the Bands.

Jon helping Jim build the pergola in the backyard.

Jon graduating from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo

 

Jon fly fishing in Hope Valley near Lake Tahoe

Jon after Andy dressed him up early one morning to meet Brent Jones at preschool.

Brent was sweet enough to autograph Jon's football card.

Jon with his friend Megan at Christmas.

Thank you Jon for being a big part of our lives and reminding us to play more and laugh often!!

"A son holds his mothers hand for a little while......her heart forever." - Author Unknown

Snap Out of It

Song - Canon guitarlele by Kyaw Moe Khaing

 

Have you ever just had one of those days?

Well, I'm having one of those weeks!

Hark

Song - Sugar Mountain by Neil Young

This was the view from our room at the Ahwahnee in Yosemite last week.  Mr. B gave me a gift of three days at the Chef's Holidays Sessions they have there annually.

On the way up there we drove through the devastation of the Rim-Fire from last summer.  It went on for as far as your eye could see and was so sad that I couldn't even snap a photo.

But once into the Valley everything was beautiful......

We arrived just in time to get settled into our room and then see our first Chef demo.  It was Parke Ulrich from the Waterbar in San Francisco who also made our Grand Finale dinner on Thursday night.  The other two chefs who did great demo's during our stay were Jimmy Bradley from The Red Cat & The Harrison in NY as well as Harold Dieterle from Perilla in NY.

But the best part of the whole trip was having Mr. B to myself and the beauty of Yosemite!

 

The clouds rolled in on Thursday night and it felt spiritual.  

I kept looking for a Tibetan monastery on the mountaintops somewhere.

 Occasionally a spit of sun would land on a spot on a mountain and highlight it for a moment.  Then just as fast as it came, it would then disappear. Then another place in the clouds would open for a second just letting your eyes feast upon one tiny miracle after another!

It was truly magical.

 

 Thursday morning we woke to snow.  Just a dusting of snow on the mountain tops and collecting on the trees.....my favorite.

 

Before heading home we stopped at the museum in the Village and visited with Julia Parker. She was busy weaving a small basket but she is always happy to pause and tell you something wonderful.

 Several summers ago, I took a basket weaving class from Julia.  From personal experience I'll tell you, it is hard work collecting the red bud or reeds, splitting them and making a nice tightly woven basket.  

 

She is a good soul.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."  - John Muir 1901 

OLW 2014

Song - The Light by The Album Leaf

During the month of December, I began to think of what my One Little Word  for 2014 might feel like and become.

I wrote down several words that might be a good fit for the upcoming year.  As the weeks passed, I was able to cross off words that I just didn't connect to at the present time.

This year's One Little Word is.....

l  i  g  h  t 

--lightness of being

--lighter possessions

--a lighter load

--enlightenment

--delight

--bathed in light

--shine my light

--my art needs light

--to become light

If you would like to join in One Little Word with Ali Edwards, here is her link.

One Little Word

"Shine like the whole universe is yours" -- Rumi

Furry things.....

Song - Hug You, Squeeze You by Stevie Ray Vaughan


We all need something cozy to enjoy at times....

Mika snuggling with her new Christmas-furry-squeeky-donkey.

Ashley snuggling with my furry hatted son, Andy.

(Mr. B said hatted is a real word)!!!

Hope you have a furry Sunday!

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.

Even longer,' Pooh answered.” 

 --A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

twentyfourteen

Song - Cocktails for Two by Spike Jones & City Slickers

Wishing you a safe and happy New Year's Eve 

and a most wonderful 

2014!

  Cheers --Jeanette

Celebrate what you want to see more of. Tom Peters
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_newyears.html#2ijwqvRF8DXWHErI.99

Celebrate what you want to see more of. Tom Peters
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_newyears.html#2ijwqvRF8DXWHErI.99

"Celebrate what you want to see more of." --Tom Peters