I am sure there are more difficult subjects to tackle but Branch used to always say something was harder than Chinese Arithmetic. This is painting with watercolor. I just finished a workshop in Boone at Cheap Joe's with Don Andrews. He was a wonderful artist with a flowing loose, colorful style and was a good teacher also. We had demos in the morning and after lunch and then we tried to paint. I am anxious to try some of his techniques now that I am home and can take my time. His philosophy of painting is so different from other teachers I have had but it makes for a beautiful painting.
The class went to Chetola Restaurant again and it was just as good as it was before. Outstanding steak, salad, coffee and Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake. Yum. The scenery was serene with a pond and swans, beautiful landscaping and nice cool weather. It does not get better.
I stayed in Banner Elk with some people I had met at a workshop two years ago. They are from Louisville, KY and invited me to stay with them in a condo on Sugar Mountain. One afternoon I took off after class and drove through winding roads to West Jefferson. I later found out I could have gone on a straighter road. I wanted to find St. Mary's Episcopal Church. I had heard about the frescos which had been done there. It seems as if the church just about disbanded for lack of a pastor when a young man was sent as the vicar. His enthusiasm revived the church and through a friend he met an artist who had just come from studying frescos in Italy. The artist volunteered to do the frescos for St. Mary's. There are three. On the left is a free standing fresco of Mary as she was expecting and on the right side is John the Baptist. Behind the altar the artist bricked and plastered the wall and created a fresco of Jesus on the cross and behind him Jesus, the risen Christ. As you enter the small church you can push a button to play an audio telling the history of the frescos. They are well worth seeing. I understand there are some more in some churches to the south of Boone. What treasures!
The cooler weather is certainly welcome and the rain is always a mixed blessing. I am not sure why weeds can grow so much faster than flowers.
I am going to Snead's Ferry to visit friends for a few days and we will go to Wilmington shopping. Surprise! Hopefully we will eat at Havana's in Carolina Beach. It is my nephew, Pete's, place and I have not seen him in a while. The food is terriffic.
Just found out the first year of "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" is on DVD. Now that is one of my favorite reads. The series begins with the above title and I think the last book was number 8? The author is Alexander McCall Smith from Scotland. The books are delightful, insightful and restful. If that is a word. They are about a lady in Botswana whose father worked hard to save and buy cattle so when he passed she could sell them and use the money to buy a business to take care of her financially. She decided to buy a detective agency. HBO made it into a series and I don't get HBO so I will have to find that DVD.
"God's will be done, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else." I heard this quote recently and sometimes it is the only way I can make sense of things. It seems as if bad news is everywhere.
Sally
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
books and boeuf
The boeuf bourgingnon was really great even though it took me 5 hours to cook it counting peeling those pesky pearl onions. The hard part was finding them in Goldsboro. It was a good thing I had gotten a new set of pots and pans because it took all of them and some of my old ones I had saved from the church yard sale. I have eaten it three times and it just gets better. I had it with rice the first time and did not like the texture of the grains of rice with the elegant sauce so for last night I made scalloped potatoes. Yum. I also made a peach cobbler and enjoyed my supper. I had had only popcorn for lunch while watching J&J again with two friends. This time we were the only ones in the room.
While I was in the mountains at Cheap Joe's watercolor workshop the first of August, I slept under a down comforter. I am so hot natured, I was afraid I would burn up but I really liked the feeling that I was under a cloud. So I went to find my own comforter. The saleslady was really good and said I could try it and bring it back if I did not like it. Ok. The only solution was to turn down the AC to 70. It worked and I loved it. However it took until 10am for the windows to defog from the humidity outside.
I just finished John Hart's book Down River. It is his second. Both are set in North Carolina. Both are complex in plot and character development which I enjoy. I have bought his third to read while I am in Boone for Don Andrews' workshop next week.
If you are interested in different art check out episcopalcafe.com:80/art to see beautiful pictures John Guiliani and Ellen Wiener.
I am taking my laptop to Boone but have had trouble with the wireless connection so may have to wait until Sunday Aug 30 to post again. I know, I know it will be difficult to do with out this but you can make it!!!
Sally
While I was in the mountains at Cheap Joe's watercolor workshop the first of August, I slept under a down comforter. I am so hot natured, I was afraid I would burn up but I really liked the feeling that I was under a cloud. So I went to find my own comforter. The saleslady was really good and said I could try it and bring it back if I did not like it. Ok. The only solution was to turn down the AC to 70. It worked and I loved it. However it took until 10am for the windows to defog from the humidity outside.
I just finished John Hart's book Down River. It is his second. Both are set in North Carolina. Both are complex in plot and character development which I enjoy. I have bought his third to read while I am in Boone for Don Andrews' workshop next week.
If you are interested in different art check out episcopalcafe.com:80/art to see beautiful pictures John Guiliani and Ellen Wiener.
I am taking my laptop to Boone but have had trouble with the wireless connection so may have to wait until Sunday Aug 30 to post again. I know, I know it will be difficult to do with out this but you can make it!!!
Sally
Thursday, August 20, 2009
comings and goings
Cecil woke me up this am early. He was afraid he would miss seeing our neighbor and friend leave for college. She is going early to play volleyball. We are both sad and happy to see her start a new part of her life's journey. We wish her well.
I will be leaving for Boone soon for a watercolor workshop by Don Andrews. I don't know how much it helps but I certainly do enjoy the views along the way and meeting new people who watercolor.
On the way home I will pick up my brother who is flying in from a six week stay at his cabin in the woods in northern Idaho. I stayed there last summer for about a week with my sister-in-law. It is a dry cabin. If you don't understand the term, to put it nicely, there is no running water or electricity. At my age getting up in the middle of the night is not an option. This required finding the stairs in the pitch dark at 36degrees, climbing down and out the door to the necessary. After a couple of nights I found another solution. It was fun to rough it and read by the lantern until at least 9pm then crawl into the sleeping bag. That is truly one of the beautiful parts of the country.
When I was recently getting my calcium IV Zometa, and the best thing about that was the warm blanket they brought, I sat beside a man, probably in his late 60's (which is not old!!), who came prepared. He had his head set on and a portable DVD player watching Easy Rider. Fortunately my procedure did not take long and I just napped.
Cecil is barking (surprise) to let me know the garbage truck is going by. It does not even stop here. Why do dogs hate garbage trucks??? I take mine, garbage not dog, to the dump nearby. Yes if it were not nearby I would have the truck stop here. Most of the attendants at the dump are so nice and helpful. I am so glad we have recycling. I am surprised that places like golf courses do not. Now there are some aluminum cans!!!!!
We watched The Pursuit of Happiness last night at our church's "Popcorn Theology" where we see a movie and discuss it. Kind of a visual book club. I thought to suggest Momma Mia and we could discuss not singing in front of people until you listen to a tape of yourself.
Got some new pots and pans. Surely that will improve my cooking??? Going to try Boeuf Bourguignon. Or I will after my nail appt.!!!
I used to think blogging was trite!!! who wants to read about daily stuff???
Enough
Sally
I will be leaving for Boone soon for a watercolor workshop by Don Andrews. I don't know how much it helps but I certainly do enjoy the views along the way and meeting new people who watercolor.
On the way home I will pick up my brother who is flying in from a six week stay at his cabin in the woods in northern Idaho. I stayed there last summer for about a week with my sister-in-law. It is a dry cabin. If you don't understand the term, to put it nicely, there is no running water or electricity. At my age getting up in the middle of the night is not an option. This required finding the stairs in the pitch dark at 36degrees, climbing down and out the door to the necessary. After a couple of nights I found another solution. It was fun to rough it and read by the lantern until at least 9pm then crawl into the sleeping bag. That is truly one of the beautiful parts of the country.
When I was recently getting my calcium IV Zometa, and the best thing about that was the warm blanket they brought, I sat beside a man, probably in his late 60's (which is not old!!), who came prepared. He had his head set on and a portable DVD player watching Easy Rider. Fortunately my procedure did not take long and I just napped.
Cecil is barking (surprise) to let me know the garbage truck is going by. It does not even stop here. Why do dogs hate garbage trucks??? I take mine, garbage not dog, to the dump nearby. Yes if it were not nearby I would have the truck stop here. Most of the attendants at the dump are so nice and helpful. I am so glad we have recycling. I am surprised that places like golf courses do not. Now there are some aluminum cans!!!!!
We watched The Pursuit of Happiness last night at our church's "Popcorn Theology" where we see a movie and discuss it. Kind of a visual book club. I thought to suggest Momma Mia and we could discuss not singing in front of people until you listen to a tape of yourself.
Got some new pots and pans. Surely that will improve my cooking??? Going to try Boeuf Bourguignon. Or I will after my nail appt.!!!
I used to think blogging was trite!!! who wants to read about daily stuff???
Enough
Sally
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Yangs Tigers and oh my
I am not sure if Tiger choked or not but at least he proved he was human or at least on Sunday.
Surely other duffers related to his adrenaline-driven over-the-green shot and his chip shots out of the rough which were less than stellar. I would like to have seen Phil do the chip shots. Now I am routinely in the rough and have practiced many shots that I am sure the pros never see so getting into trouble does not shake me!!! and since my shots never get higher than the mezzanine of my favorite department store the winds do not even feature in my shot plans. I am sorry to say I was not disappointed to see Yang win after listening to the announcers all afternoon. I am surprised that he did not just quit after the 9th hole!!! If the golf gurus knew Asians at all they would realize that most have amazing powers of concentration and the aura of Tiger cannot penetrate it. Enough.
Sorry but not surprised to hear another news flash about the increasing disappearance of the giant pandas of China. When they can build a dam that displaced so many families and was so big that when the lake behind it is full may disrupt the tilt of the planet, why should they be concerned with the extinction of a fuzzy bear?
My neighbor's daughter is leaving for college this week and just got her phone. This will be shocking to most because it is her first phone and at 19!!! Last night I got a text from her to tell Cecil, my 5 year old poooodle , that she had her phone. I promised to keep him to one text a day to her. Good luck P.
Time to leave for PCMH for my 6 mo. calcium IV. yea.
SPOPE
Surely other duffers related to his adrenaline-driven over-the-green shot and his chip shots out of the rough which were less than stellar. I would like to have seen Phil do the chip shots. Now I am routinely in the rough and have practiced many shots that I am sure the pros never see so getting into trouble does not shake me!!! and since my shots never get higher than the mezzanine of my favorite department store the winds do not even feature in my shot plans. I am sorry to say I was not disappointed to see Yang win after listening to the announcers all afternoon. I am surprised that he did not just quit after the 9th hole!!! If the golf gurus knew Asians at all they would realize that most have amazing powers of concentration and the aura of Tiger cannot penetrate it. Enough.
Sorry but not surprised to hear another news flash about the increasing disappearance of the giant pandas of China. When they can build a dam that displaced so many families and was so big that when the lake behind it is full may disrupt the tilt of the planet, why should they be concerned with the extinction of a fuzzy bear?
My neighbor's daughter is leaving for college this week and just got her phone. This will be shocking to most because it is her first phone and at 19!!! Last night I got a text from her to tell Cecil, my 5 year old poooodle , that she had her phone. I promised to keep him to one text a day to her. Good luck P.
Time to leave for PCMH for my 6 mo. calcium IV. yea.
SPOPE
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Not only did Julie and Julia help exercise my lungs, it jump started my cooking again. I now have food in my refridgerator which does not fit on a slice of bread and will not be accompained by cheetos as a side dish. I had thought I would start a blog some time ago but just did not get to it until seeing the movie. Of course since I have retired from teaching high school math for 34 years I now have time to do things for fun.
I am also dismayed by the poor grammar I have heard even on NPR. What about some verb, subject agreement people. And has no one heard about each being single????
I loved the new Harry Potter but it was confusing if you did not see or read previous movies or books.
A long but good read is Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed. It is hard for me to understand how anyone can put together so many words and keep it tied together. Not so for my favorite long read The Story of Edgar Sawtell. I was sad for that one to end.
My sister worked in Raleigh in the 70s for a tv station and somehow came into possession of the recipes for Julia Child's cooking show on WGBH in Boston. I went into the attic and dragged it down to find something I could cook. I am still looking.
Great Movie.
I am also dismayed by the poor grammar I have heard even on NPR. What about some verb, subject agreement people. And has no one heard about each being single????
I loved the new Harry Potter but it was confusing if you did not see or read previous movies or books.
A long but good read is Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed. It is hard for me to understand how anyone can put together so many words and keep it tied together. Not so for my favorite long read The Story of Edgar Sawtell. I was sad for that one to end.
My sister worked in Raleigh in the 70s for a tv station and somehow came into possession of the recipes for Julia Child's cooking show on WGBH in Boston. I went into the attic and dragged it down to find something I could cook. I am still looking.
Great Movie.
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