Did I ever tell you about my birds?

When I was in college I had a parakeet named Julie. She (he?) was named Julie because I got her in July.  Clever huh? Julie and I lived in a small studio apartment and she was one messy bird. Not only did she shed feathers every where she also spit her seeds every where.  I could hardly keep up.  I never had a cover for her cage so she always woke me up early. Even on days when I’d been up all night partying she’d start her sing song routine as soon as the sun came up.  I was actually fine with it because back then my cure for a hangover (who me?) was a 7 am bike ride down to the corner store for a bottle of OJ and then a trip around the university area on the bike.  Sunday mornings were great for bike riding. The air was crisp and fresh and the traffic was light and it cleared out the cobwebs from my head. I’d get back early enough to clean up more seeds and do some studying. ( Yeah I say that like I studied a lot. )

One day I thought I’d be a good bird momma and get her out of her cage and try to train her to sit on my shoulder. Not.a.good.idea. What I didn’t know enough to do was close the window shade before pulling her out of the cage.  Little Julie thought she was free, free, free. Well until she hit the window…splat! and fell down straight down.  OMG I felt so bad for her.  She wasn’t hurt too bad but it freaked us both out.  She because she just knew if she tried one more time, she could be free to roam the wilds of Albuquerque. I told you she was silly.  And I was freaked out because I couldn’t catch that darn bird and I was chasing her back and forth across the room. It was comical. I finally got smart enough to close the shade so she couldn’t hurt herself anymore. You know, if we hadn’t been in a one room apt she might still be loose today. 

I finally got a bath towel and threw it on her.  It blinded her so she couldn’t move and I was finally able to get her back in the cage.  Whew, we were both exhausted.

I’ll tell you about my other bird, Flower, another day.  Do you have any crazy pet stories you’d like to share?

I probably should mention that the journal page above and the coffee page from two days ago were inspired by the Prompt a Day workshop I’m taking from Kelly Kilmer. 

Hey, Where the #$%!@ is my coffee?

This probably isn’t unusual but I can’t start my day without my morning cup of coffee. I love coffee, I adore coffee, I’m addicted to coffee, I.must.have.coffee.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not addicted because of the caffeine, I gave that up a while ago. I was drinking the brew at all hours of the day and into the evening and it was messing with my sleep. No, I just love the taste of coffee. 

Unfortunately, my taste buds are not cheap. My taste buds  H-A-T-E Folgers. (Sorry Folgers Company but it starts to taste like lighter fluid after a while… OK don’t ask how I know what lighter fluid tastes like, I’m not telling…oops I digress.) NO these taste buds love the fancy flavored coffee beans. Hazelnut is my favorite but I also love Kona and Antigua and …ok don’t laugh, I love the coffee they serve at Dunkin Donuts, yum.  Why, oh why, don’t they have a Dunkin Donuts in my town? sob…. oops off topic again.

That’s not to say that I go for all permeations and concoctions of coffee based drinks they serve at Starbucks, I can’t say that I do.  Heck I recently had to ask what they meant by “Do you want your cappuccino wet or dry?” Wet or dry?  Are they serving coffee grounds without brewing it these days? Nope just straight unadulterated, don’t mess with my coffee, coffee.

These days take my coffee black, no sugar and  made from freshly ground beans.  I used to drink it with cream and sugar until some time about 20+ years ago when I was on one of my many diets (that may or many not have worked temporarily).  I quit the cream and sugar because you know just how calorie laden one teaspoon each of sugar and milk are. Thinking about it now makes me roll my eyes at myself.

Oh and just so you don’t get the wrong idea about me: 

  #$%$^ = fudge

Colored Pencils and Scrubbed Paint

I fully intended to paint this girl but some how the colored pencils kept whispering “use me, use me” so I did for everything except the gleam in her eye. For that I used a Signo white pen. 

I didn’t draw the face with anyone in mind but she reminds me of someone. I don’t know who.  If you know who it is, let me know.

 

I’ve been playing around with layering paints to get texture. I’ve always loved the look of layering but how to do it never really gelled until recently. What I’ve been doing is scrubbing the paint before it dries. The process of scrubbing the paint to create texture is very interesting. One thing I have learned is that not all paint works well with this process.  For example when I try to scrub Liquitex Basics, the paint lifted the layer of paint under it and left an unsightly ring. It’s hard to describe but suffice it to say it’s not a look I wanted.

 

Do you have any favorite methods for creating texture?

What was I thinking?

I really liked this first page when I finished it but the more I look at it the less I like it.  It’s too busy and the text color is funky. The text started out ok until I tried to write on dark blue paint with a blue pen and realizing it wasn’t going to show, I used black. What was I thinking?  I have other more suitable color pens. Why choose one that won’t show up and then replace it with one that stands out like a sore thumb?  OK it’s not for sale and it won’t get published and except for a few eyes it really won’t be seen much.  So why does it bother me so much? 

On this next page, it’s a topic I’ve covered before but I can’t quit thinking about it.  I really want to travel.  I mean I really want to travel.  My Guy and I were planning a trip to Europe for our 20th anniversary but we hosted our daughter’s wedding instead.  We loved every bit of our girl’s wedding and had a blast helping her plan it. OK, ok, she planned and we paid but you know the real joy is in writing those checks. ;)

However, when it was done I was left with wander lust. Yeah, I’m still lusting after a trip to Italy.  Do you know of anyone who might be giving away a free trip to Portofino? NO? Shoot!

Since there are no free trips I am willing to work for the trip. I can carry your bag for you (purse size) should you need help. All you have to do is pay my way. :)  When do we leave?

I suppose by now you’ve noticed that’s the Eiffel Tower on the journal page and you know it’s in France not Italy. Honestly, I’m not really so geographically (is that a word?) challenged that I think it’s in Italy.  I just didn’t have a picture if the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Thanks for visiting. If you have a moment, leave me a note. I’d love to hear what you think.

What are you working on?

It’s been a quiet week at work so I’ve had time to work on some art. Here are a couple of the journal pages I have been working on.  The above picture is of me … in my dreams.  Actually it’s one I pulled from an advertisement in Woman’s magazine.  I’ve been having a good time mixing and layering colors, for the background, I would normally not use together.  The black and white tape is some that I’ve had since I was quilting. It a stitching guide for hand quilting.

  I’m back on a kick of painting faces again. I still find them hard to do but getting better little by little, if I do say so myself. :)

OK don’t look too closely because Ewww, my scan makes my girl look like she has black facial hair. She doesn’t, honest, I made sure she shaved beforehand.  Looks like the scanner glass needs to be cleaned.

So tell me, what are you working on?

The Gift

Some of my favorite gifts have been the small ones that I would have never thought I’d receive. For example, I hadn’t spoken to My Girl about my favorite cookies in ages but she read my blog about Biscochito cookies just before Christmas.  When we went to Albuquerque for Christmas my dear Girl made a batch of them for me on Christmas morning. It was even more special because I’m the only on in the family that likes them because the cookies have anise in them.  That precious girl got up extra early on Christmas morning to make them and they were heavenly. 

Many years ago I used to commute to the next town over for work. The commute included a 5 mile trip on a two lane canyon road and many times it was in dark, rainy weather.  When I’d get home I’d always complain about the tailgaters.  One year on my birthday, my husband gave me the following: a pound of my favorite coffee from the specialty shop, yum, and a license plate holder that said “Back off or I’ll flick a booker on your windshield.”  I died laughing and ran right out to put on the car. That plate provided many years of laughs because you could always look in the rear view mirror and catch people either laughing or getting disgusted as they read the plate holder.  Yes, we have a perverse sense of humor.

So what little, unexpected gift have you received that you’ll never forget?

Scarlet was my baby

Do you have a favorite car?

I Will Survive….

the enchiladas and ice cream I had too much of for dinner. owww!

Two years ago  I called the NM Chile Connection to place an order for New Mexico red chile and asked them to send us 3 lbs of the hottest batch of dry red chile pods they had, never realizing that their hottest would be like eating Thai peppers. Ouch!  Thai peppers are in the middle of the Scoville unit scale   I love hot chili but this stuff was scorching. 

To put the “hotness” into perspective, the scale ranges from 0- 160,0000 units. The Sweet pepper is rated 0, the Anaheim pepper is rated between 500 - 2,500 Scoville units and a Jalapeño is rated between 2,500 - 5,000. Jalapeño peppers are not hot to me, probably because I’ve built up a tolerance to them. A Thai pepper is between 50,000 - 100,000, that’s HOT!!  My guy, who has also built up a tolerance to chili, ate a Thai pepper once and after the first bite he turned bright red and had to excuse himself.

After our first experience with this particular chile, I learned that I had to cut it with other chile pods that I can buy in our local stores here in California.  (That sounds like I’m making up batches of some illegal drug, doesn’t it?) Our local store carry dry chili pods that have flavor but no heat so it tames the heat of the first batch. Anyway, the point I wanted to make when I started this post was that I make this chile regularly but it took us two years to eat 3 lbs of it.   

According to Chilliworld.com there is a reason why we go on eating chili even though it "burns" the tongue. When nerve cells release substance P, the body produces chemicals called endorphins - and these act on brain cells in the same way that opium-derived drug morphine does. As a result, you feel good.”

I think it time to order some more.

 

I have to give kudos to my guy for making some of THE BEST strawberry ice cream I have ever had.  It was to die for. And the best thing you can eat after having hot chili.  It cuts the burn.

OK now you know more than you ever cared to about red chili.

What is your favorite type of journal?

The journal pages shown in this post are the last three pages in my current journal. After a year and a half I have finally filled it up.

The above page is, as it says, about some toys I had as a child.  I can’t say that toys were a big part of my life growing up.  I have many more memories of playing outdoors, doing whatever, than indoors with toys.

The above is about My Girl. It says “You had to go and grow up. You needed to assert your independence. So you flew the coop and started your new life 2 states away and now I am missing you.”

And the last is about My Guy. He’s my rock.

Now I've got to find, make, or buy a new one.  Should I get another moleskin? A wire bound journal or make my own? 

I’ve also been thinking of getting a simple binder, like the kind you had in high school, and creating my journal pages look leaf, then adding them to the binder.  I kind of like that idea because then I won’t have to worry about getting paint on the other pages.

What is your favorite type of journal?

Blog Giveaway

Oops, Sorry, it’s not here.  Visit Jennifer’s Trial and Error blog for her 3rd year anniversary blog  giveaway.  Looks like lots of fun supplies. Click the button to sign up.