Friday, September 30, 2016

Still Not The Day...Sigh

Cleaning the rec hall bathroom, a chiropractor app't that hurt, bought a Salonpas to find out that it's a NSAID drug but put it on anyway then back to the bathrooms to find out I screwed up and the water isn't working.


Ya but my new hoop sterling silver earrings came and the shot of Tequila that Roger and I had really helped make the day better.  I didn't get to paint but I did get brushes and directions for my wine glass paintings.


I'll need to catch up over the weekend but hopefully I'll be able to play with these in between. I just love new supplies!!! And earrings!!!! Oh and the new top I got on my way home from the chiropractors...(Shhhhh)

It's starting to get a little dark outside. Night time? No, afternoon storm coming in. We are also watching to see what Hurricane Mathew plans on doing next week. I'm thinking it will stay off shore but we will get winds and rain.  We'll be ready. (what ever that means at this point)

Can you tell I'm weary today and a little disgruntled I guess. Two days of no painting and it's starting to show. Next two days I will stay home and work..(play).  And vacuum, clean the bedroom and other things because as you have heard, we are running out of room!!! Haha.

Oh, the Salonpas!!! They have a warning that if you are over 60 be careful. I had problems taking Aleve so I was wary but if I was bending and walking about this afternoon and already in pain from the adjustment I was going to try it. It works!!!! You smell like a hospital ward, Ben Gay, but it works. No pain. I'm starting now to get slight pains in my stomach so it's coming off and I'll switch to ice, ice baby!!! If I could think of some way to just attach an ice bag to my hip it would be perfect. I did think long and hard!

So, that's it for today. Hey, I'm doing pretty good writing everyday. Have a great night and I'll see you tomorrow!!!

Warmly,
Sheila

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Not The Plan I Had

The morning started as usual. Lola barks and wants to get up on the bed. Up she comes and snugs into me as Sammy snugs onto my feet and Ozzie into my head. I look at my phone then Lola moves heaven and earth to get to me so I pet her and give her loves. That's how I wake up. Then the dog park and today was bathroom cleaning day at the park. My plan was to finish some commissions so I set up, had some coffee and started. That's when Wendy, one of the owners, texted to tell me we needed to clean up the rec hall. 5 RV's are coming in as a group on the first for 4 days and they will be using the rec hall for meetings and pot luck dinners.


This was the first plan.


And this became the plan for the day. It's all good, it's part of living at a park and we all chipped in to make it look good!



What is this?? Steve and Connie, the principal owners asked us to try out this dog wash! It won't fit Lola but will Sammy and Ozzie. They step into it then you bring the wand down and back doing the shampoo then clear water and voila'...clean dog!! I'm excited to try it..Sammy and Oz are a little odoriferous!!! (sorry Sam...but it's true) We will take pics when we give him his quickie bath!


Oh look what arrived today!! I've been getting supplies and ordered a larger size watercolor pad. I love working on 300lb paper. It's heavier and strong enough to actually wash off the paint if I hated what was happening. So far I've only washed one, so I feel lucky! I've been writing down my ideas so stay tuned for new watercolor pieces!!


Of course I need to do a show and tell on what Roger made yesterday. When we went to Wick, Scotland, our friend Ray and Roger had to go to the Old Pulteney Distillery. It was closed that time for repairs so they went to the Wick Museum but it didn't stop them from buying and partaking of the single Malt!! It makes the perfect fun lamp filled with red and gold marbles.
I know, we may be ragging alcoholics by the time we finish this adventure in fun bottles!! We have a few friends here at the park that are saving their bottles... thankfully,saving us.

Another thunder storm coming across the park now and we are hoping it doesn't strike us again today.  I was watching the Sand Hill Crane family standing out in the pouring rain and as soon as it stopped for awhile they flew off.  Smart birds!!

That's it for today..Have a great night all and I'll see you tomorrow! You can actually get this blog on your Kindle and take me with you! Just put my name in and you will find it in my book section or just go here!!
MY BLOG ON KINDLE


Warmly,
Sheila



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Manifesting And Other Fun Things

Manifesting!! How many people read or saw "The Secret" when it came out. I devoured it. Could this be true? Could we make things happen? Why not I said. The trick though is to take action to make it happen. Enter CiCiBlue. I wanted a Country Coach. For a year I lived it, breathed it,dream't of it..hmm, no coach. Roger said something that hit home.."Take action and start emptying and selling everything in the house and it will come", and it did. Right down to the very last detail.




Roger outside with his drill and rubber holder thingy for our bottles so we can sand the edges easily. By hand was taking forever not to mention my hand cramps.


We haven't gone on line with our products as yet but it's close.  My enamel paints came today and I'm ready to start decorating some of our glass ware. I used to decorate children's furniture so I am familiar with the one stroke method.  We are taking action! The Universe will start it's magic!!

Traveling or staying in one place for a time, I'd like to know that we will be ok financially. RV-ing is a lot less than a sticks and bricks but you still have to think of the what- do -you- do- ifs.  And I won't even go near politics. We will be ok!! Blind faith Sheila?? Oh you bet!!!

Another crazy storm yesterday and lightning hit and started a fire down on 95 and rt. 50. Last I heard 850 acres were burning and that was this morning. It's far enough away from us so we are fine, but now on the news they are saying a hurricane may drop in on us in a week or so.  Time to call our repair guys and get the stairs finally repaired so we could get them in if we have to travel.  Sitting in a coach through a hurricane doesn't sound like too much fun.

So, the sky is getting cloudy out there. Time for our afternoon storm so I better help Roger get his equipment inside. Lord, we are running out of room to move!!! Hahaha.

Have a great night and see you tomorrow!!

Warmly,
Sheila


Tuesday, September 27, 2016

No Internet Boo Hiss

My fault! We pay 30.00 a month for internet and as I went to do my blog, my internet subscription had ended. I had to wait for a day to get back on, I think you know how that goes sometimes.  But I'm back!!!

Today is Lola's birthday!! We have had her for three years but today she is 4!! Frosty paws and a treat Kong as we sang to her.


Happy Birthday to Youuuuu!!!


The birthday Kong! 

What else did we do? I painted. 


My space is getting smaller and smaller every day. My goal is to get that new plein air easel so I can work standing up and have more room for larger pieces.


Right now I actually have a list of work to complete for my clients, so I work on many in one day.  This si a 20" x 20" oil on canvas. I'm pleased how it's coming out!!

Let's see, one other thing that I'm excited about. My order of glass paint is arriving tomorrow. Roger picked up two  wine glasses for me to practice on.  This November a group of women are coming up to the park to do something creative while their husbands are playing golf.  They are also RV people and my artist friend will be coming up to lend me a hand. We thought painting wine glasses would be a fun two hours for them. 

Our bottle cutting continues and we are seriously running out of room in CiCiBlue. You may hear me scream very soon. It is getting cooler out so one day we will open up all the basement bays and take everything out and either pitch or redistribute.  There's just so much ...STUFF!!  Time to get it pulled together and get to the flea market and see how it goes. Fingers crossed. 

Ok, see you tomorrow then. Have a great night...and yes, this blog was published on Kindle Blogs. You can take me with you as you travel...I mean..you don't want to miss the actual completion of CiCiBlue and the start of our travels. 

Warmly,
Sheila


Saturday, September 24, 2016

Dog Park Muffins

Hmmm, now doesn't that sound..interesting!! So before you all leave now I will tell you!


On the other side of the dog park fence grows a huge banana tree.  The cluster of bananas have been hanging there for months and finally they got so heavy the limb fell over into the park.  One of my duties here is to keep the dog park tidy,trimming the over hanging trees and making sure no other "muffins" are on the ground.  Without thinking I pushed the heavy limb over the fence.  As the days went by and the heat continued, the bananas started to turn yellow. Paul,  a fellow camper who lives next to the park said they were sugar bananas and they would be sweet. Really?? Of course I had to try it so I jammed my hand through the fence and wrestled a banana of the vine. OMG!!! He 's correct!  I gave Paul 3 that I could get and I put one in each of my back pockets and two I carried. Ok, the one I ate was shared with three dogs and Roger. That's how huge they are. Why so many? Banana Muffins!!! No, Banana Walnut Muffins!!!

The recipe called for 4 bananas and since they were so fat and large I was worried, but used them anyway. Where's the pic of the yummy muffins?? I was so busy eating I forgot to take one.  Hot and yummy. Then I made 6 for Wendy, one of the owners. After all, they are Crystal Lake RV Park Muffins!!  I have 4 more waiting and Roger just went to get more flour for me and there are even more on the tree!!! Talk about fresh made!!!

I started a September/October special for either a 16" x 20" or 20" x 20" oil of ones pet today for 350.00. I already have one commission. I am so excited. I have been saving and wishing for a new plein air easel set up that I can use in the coach for painting and standing. Sitting is contracting my psoas muscle and it's painful when I walk. Massage Therapy and soon physical therapy will help as well as standing while I work.  So I'm very excited.. This is it!!  Not all the stuff but the box, mount and tripod! 365.00 plus tax but worth every cent. The box I have now is falling apart but has served me well...I am grateful.  Being a professional artist is an ongoing expense but I wouldn't trade it for anything. (maybe add a horse though.) People say but aren't you retired? Ah, nope. I HAVE to paint. I get really unbearable if I'm not. It's a DNA thing!!!

So anyone interested in a portrait please let me know. Great time, great price.


So have a great weekend and I'll see you tomorrow! (I'm doing good!!!)

Warmly,
Sheila

Friday, September 23, 2016

It's The Weekend

And that's a running joke here since everyday seems like the weekend.  Most days I'm not sure what day it even is. Loving this life.


"Gentle Giants"
8" x 8" watercolor on 300lb paper

Finished. Added some white highlights with white gouache then put a red toned wash over the entire painting to bring it all together color wise. I'm pleased!

A class C motor home came into the park today and we met the couple as we came back from the dog park with the kids. Lola ran right to the man as the boys went to the woman. "How long are you staying?" I asked and she replied, "As long as we like actually." They began to tell us the just came back from a thousand mile trip, put their rig on Craigslist two days ago and it sold. Their plan is to now sail on their 45' sailboat down to St.John ,Virgin Islands, and go from there.  We told them to go to the small island of Bequia and have the lobster pizza.  We were there a few times as we sailed on the Barefoot Cruise ships. 

I'm thrilled for them but, to be honest, that little envy pang popped onto my left shoulder.  Then I climbed into our coach and was happy again.  Winter is coming to the places we would love to go to so I keep painting, manifesting and being positive. Our friends will be coming back to the campground in about 3 weeks time and we'll have lots to do. 

I am on a few RV pages on Facebook and read about where people are, then look up the campground. One today was in NJ and the dog rules stated that if you had a dog that you couldn't hold on to, they would ask you to leave. I had to laugh right out loud thinking of how many times Lola has gone into overdrive to see someone and I am flying and dangling on the end of her lead.  Our neighbor Bob has cookies on their nightly walk and she knows it. I've got her to wait and go "easy" often but every so often it's a bolt. "LOOOOLLLLLAAAAAA NOOOOOOO" is heard throughout the campground. I would so be thrown out of the NJ "Resort". 

So that's it for today. Mailed the painting I finished off earlier so that's done and chatted with a client about another commission. "Manifesting"!!!! One day I'll tell you how we manifested CiCi Blue!! Right down to every detail!

Have a great night and chat again tomorrow!!

Warmly,
Sheila

PS, How about our Patriots!!! (football)

Thursday, September 22, 2016

A Glorious Day

And it was! I love Roger and I love being with him and now we are together 24/7 living in an RV.  Complaining? No, not at all, but over the years in the sticks and bricks he went to work and I went to the studio. We had stuff to chat about at night and I painted to my hearts content.


Roger had a massage appointment today at 10:45 A.M. so he left about an hour earlier. That's when I started to work.


First I needed to put on the finishing touches on this oil. I donated a certificate for Pet Portrait to a Lab group and the woman who won asked if I would paint her dog that she recently lost as he entered Heaven.  This is a 12" x 12 " oil on canvas.  When I finished, I had lunch with the fur kids!

Then, OMG, I have the whole day to myself, I worked on the watercolor that I had started. Glorious!!






This is where I stopped and took a quick nap with the kids!!


And, OMG, dinner is ready, I have to stop. Roger is the cook.  The only time I left the coach was to take the lids out. I told Roger that it was a wonderful day and he agreed that it's nice to have an alone day every so often.

So, that's another part of living in a 40' Country Coach.  Time for Jeopardy so off I go!! Yes, I'm a huge fan!!

Have a great night and see you tomorrow!!

Warmly,
Sheila

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

It May Be On Kindle

Years ago I had a blog "Daily Ruminations, Paintings and Labs" and it was on Kindle. It was monetized for .99 for the month. Hey, right now that would be welcome. :-) So, today I decided, why not try this one and blog daily. Ok, stop laughing,I can do this.  It might not be up to the standards of Hemingway but you will  get an idea of what life is like as the snow birds come back to roost for the winter months.


The big excitement here this week was the storm that rolled over us with thunder and lightning.  The flash and sound came at the same time and we knew. This is the beautiful fir tree up by the office.  You can see in front of the tin owls where the lightning struck. Wendy up-righted them , but they flew for the first time in their little lives.


The tree was wrapped with Christmas lights and they were totally blown to bits. The poor tree then started weeping sap. Hoping since it was soaked from the rain that not too much damage was done inside and the tree will survive.  The bolt also hit up at Stuckeys , the gas station in front of the park and knocked our water out for a day. Thankfully we have a water pump and a supply of water.  The weather station tells us more storms this weekend so we are all holding our breath and thanking the heavens for good surge protectors!!


How do you survive financially living full time in an RV. ? It seems like every time we get savings something comes up. Roger and I are both creative so we started a bottle cutting, plant self watering, cute cut bottle planters and soon cute bottle terrarium business.


Right now we are building up our stock, they are everywhere, and will start with the local flea market to see how they sell. My thought too with tons of bubble wrap and noodles we can also sell on line!! hint,hint!!


Roger created an over the table light with an Edison bulb. An old fashion look. I want to frost a bottle and see how it then effects the glow.  So many ideas. Plus my paintings!!! Busy busy Bee me!!!

So, actually, I guess I may have a bit to chat about daily if the blog goes to Kindle!

Oh wait...this is exciting!! At least to me. We keep our kids away from other dogs here at the park. Sammy is sometimes afraid and not so hospitable. Ozzie is great and I wasn't sure about Lola. If she charges I can't hold her and I would be at the dog before her.  Then we would greet another dog as a pack. There is a 14 year old black Lab female in the park. Candy. I have a huge soft spots for older Labs and female. Her human came out to say hi as Lola and I were walking past and around the corner came Candy. Woof woof she said. Marilyn asked if they could meet and I said ah, no, that I was afraid Lola would hurt her. But then as I started walking I changed my mind. Candy and Lola came nose to nose and greeted each other.  Lola was probably wondering what happened to Sammy, but she was just fine. Huge success!! Candy started to chat a bit then so we went our way.

So that's it for now...and I will see you tomorrow!!! 

Stay safe,
Warmly,
Sheila

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

September...

September, and we haven't gone anywhere.  The rv repair men have been up a few times to work on our steps. We raised the coach and under they went. Then they had to drill a hole in our entry to put a button so that when the door opened the stairs open, closed, they would return back. Good plan until the repair guy broke the button and needs to reorder it.


Thankfully I have a talent to keep me busy rather than thinking about what isn't.  You can go HERE  to see it on my Daily Paintworks web site.  8" x 8" watercolor and gouache highlights.

Back to the repairs. We had THE storm come in. Thankfully we were out of the main area of Hermine but we did get the storm bands. Wind and rain. We have the bent rod on the awning on the drivers side but also have one on our big awning on the passenger side.  Our insurance guy came out early to take photos and now we are waiting on the results so those can be ordered and replaced. Oh, and did I mention our front a/c died. ? It went off and we did get it started by spinning the wheel inside but after about 1 minute it shut off. The repair guys came and put in a new capacitor but alas, that kept blowing the fuse. After testing the compressor and seeing it was pulling 20 amps the decision was that it was in fact dying and we need a new a/c.   The workers were thankful we are patient but said when ever we do go on our journey we'll be in good shape.  The way we look at it is that the storms have been so insane out there this summer we were probably meant to stay put.


This was in the middle of super high winds and rain. No leaks, a little sway every so often but we were safe and sound.

Ok, time for lunch!! Have a great day!!!

Warmly,
Sheila