Cherry Blossom Time!

It's Cherry Blossom Time! The cherry trees around the yard are in full bloom.

...as are the Forget-Me-Nots, Bleeding Hearts & Columbine...

but would you believe it? We had a hail storm today, with ice pellets the size of green peas! Can you see them on the patio? On the grass?

Thirsty Anyone?

Spring Blooms

Spring blossoms are blooming both inside and outside the house.
Check them out!

More Art

Life is busy, but I have found some time to be creative. Check out my web page at http://www.geocities.com/bnwrite/personalpage.html .
I've added a new page of art at http://www.geocities.com/bnwrite/moreart.html . I've also collected and painted a whole slew of rocks. Unfortunately I've finished them with a gloss varnish instead of the matte I used on the canvas paintnings, which makes them look great on the shelf but difficult to photograph because the flash creates a sheen/blur on the photos. Since I enjoy painting flowers, I've painted these violas from my garden on some of the rocks.

Fungus

Have you ever seen fungus art? Fungus grows on trees and are usually harvested in spring when they are easier to find. My friend gave me this fungus so I took it to art class and painted a picture on it. The fungus had a bump which is right where I painted the rim of the flowerpot so that it almost has a 3D effect.

The Price of Gas

Did you know the price of gas has gone up again this weekend. In Happy Valley-Goose Bay we now pay just over $1.26 a litre!! Somebody sent me this link that I thought was appropriate for the day: http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/178/index.php or at least good for a laugh! We might as well laugh because we obviously can't change it and frowning too much might give us a headache, wrinkles ....or worse :)

Talking Sticks & Wildflowers

After a two week hiatus, painting classes resumed tonight. Our art teacher, renown artist Barb Wood, brought in some ‘talking sticks’ that she had painted and some unfinished pieces. Apparently ‘talking sticks’ are legendary among native circles where the speaker held a stick in front of him as he spoke as a sign for everybody to listen. The stick was then passed to the next speaker. These sticks can be cut in the spring of the year when they are easier to peel and can be alders, birch, etc. They need to be seasoned for a while before they can be painted.

Some of the fine detail is amazing!

Even though I was given a stick to paint, my project for tonight was to paint a picture on a 5" x 7" canvas using only the primary colors squeezed from tubes, as opposed to the variety of paints I had been using from small bottles. Here is the result of my efforts. I’m calling it Wildflowers.

Spring?

With lengthening days - more hours of sunlight - my houseplants are heralding spring. New blossoms are appearing all over the place.

I brought this miniature rose bush in from my garden last fall. It all but died, so I cut it back and placed it on my kitchen window sill. Now it's blooming nicely.

But the prettiest houseplant right now is my Impatience. Just have a look at those flowers!

Yes, I was really getting into the spring mode. Bare pavement was showing, we were stepping out in shoes, and I was ready to open the windows, houseclean and hang clothes out on the clothesline! Then along comes this storm. It's too late to be called Sheila's Brush, but have you heard the old expression about March - in like a lamb, out like a lion? Well March came in very meekly so I guess it went out with a roar. Yesterday we broke all rainfall AND snowfall records for that date. Whoever heard of 24 cm of snow on April 2nd? Only in Labrador you say?

Still Life Art

Ok, maybe I won't make my living as an artist, but it's fun trying. Tonight we practiced painting still life. Our instructor, Barb, draped a sheet of navy broadcloth over a chair placed stragetically on a desk and set two smaller pieces of pottery in front of a jar containing dried grass - very similar to what you see below. It took a bit more concentration and even though I was left to turn out the lights, this is what I brought home.

Spring!

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz,

I wonder where de birdies is.

People say they're on the wing but

that's absurd 'cause the wing is on the bird!

I'm not sure where this little poem came from, but I think I read it in one of my elementary school books many moons ago. If anyone knows the source of the poem, maybe they can let me know.

Anyway, welcome to the first day of Spring! We had temperatures above zero and it rained most of the day but I don't think the crocus or daffodills will be poking through just yet. There's still a few feet of snow on my flowerbeds as you can see in this photo I snapped this afternoon.

Rock Painting

Tonight was our third art class. Some of us decided to try painting on different surfaces. Barb, our wonderful, talented, and creative art teacher, brought along some clean, bare rocks and samples of her painting done on rocks. She had woderful little brooches painted on small smooth beach rocks, a medium sized paperweight creatively decorated and a larger painted rock that could be used as a door stop. Great inspiration! This class was a lot of fun and I laughed 'til I cried. After some experimenting, starting over, and help from Barb, these are the results I brought home with me tonight.

Acrylic Painting, Lesson 2

This is my second attempt at Beginner's Art with acrylic paint. Ok, I have a very patient art teacher! Just in case you don't recognize the setting, it's a view of Salt Pond from Gosling Park - or reasonable fascimile :)

Beginner's Art

I’ve been working so much lately, I thought I would like to do something different for a change. One of the perks of working at the college is accessibility to evening courses. The only night I had free was Monday night and the course being offered that night was Acrylic Painting. Hmmm… I had never tried my hand at it before, so I thought, why not? Tonight was my debut, et voila!




Even a closer look - well, not bad for an amateur! Whaddya think?

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Attitude

I came across some really good quotes about attitude. Thought you might enjoy them too!

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude in life. Attitude is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people, think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break an organization ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... Life is 10% what happens, and 90% how we react to it. And so it is with you ... you are in charge of your attitude."

- Charles Swindoll

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~ Scott Hamilton

And a "Good Monday Morning to You, too!"

A paradox

Quite unexpectedly I've found a paradox of my life in Vern McLellan's book Shredded Wit. It goes like this:

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.

Plan more than you can do, then do it.

Point your arrow at a star, take your aim, and there you are.

Arrange more time than you can spare, then spare it.

Take on more than you can bear, then bear it.

Plan your castle in the air, then build a ship to take you there.

A paradox - absurd, unbelievable, but true.

Clutz!

What a clutz I am! As I was getting ready to leave for work on Monday morning, I tripped in the handle of my bag - on carpet, wearing slippers! Of course I sat and cried. I cried not so much for the pain (and it did hurt!), but because I just don't have the luxury of time to rest. I didn't realize how many steps I walk in the run of a day and just how fast I need to go. You can just call me peg-legged sue or hop-along cassidy :)

Valentine's Day Poem

A couple of years ago, I wrote this poem for a Valentine's Day contest. It was aired on CBC Radio and I won tickets to a show by the same name. I thought seeing it's Valentine's Day again I would share it with you.

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE
I love you, you’re perfect, now change
Now don’t ya think that’s rather strange
Do you think this ol’ earthly me
Can a gorgeous butterfly be?
Once I get my feet off the ground
I might never again be found.
This metamorphosis you ask
Is quite an impossible task
So dear, it’s take me as I am
You love me, I’m perfect, no change!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Web Page Design

This past week I taught an introductory course in Web Page Design over on base. I did a search to see if I could find some of them. Here are some of my student's pages that I found:
http://www.geocities.com/hollymooressnook/jonahhughlettsnook
http://www.geocities.com/allheart_73/index.html
http://www3.nf.sympatico.ca/robiaman/

On the last day of the course I had my students create blog spots. Here are a couple of them:
http://crazymomoffour.blogspot.com/
http://hollymooressnook.blogspot.com/

Keeping in mind that blogs are updated regularly and web sites are perpetually under construction, why not give a raincheck.

Since we were on the topic, I was inspired to revamp my own page as well. Why not check it out? http://www.geocities.com/bnwrite/personalpage.html

On the soapbox!

My, it’s looks like I may be only a weekend writer! To say I’m busy would be an understatement.

Tonight I feel like I need a soapbox because there are a few things I’d like to get off my chest.

First, I’d like to talk about voting in the federal election – or lack thereof. What really bothers me is conditional voting: “I would vote this way if…” Hogwash! I hear people say, “Well I really like the NDP policies but I know they have no chance of getting in, so I voted for the Conservatives/Liberals.” If every person who I heard say that, had voted for the NDP, the NDP may very well be the official opposition!” Then there are the people who say, “I don’t like the Liberals or the Conservatives. I would vote for the NDP but they’ll never get in so I didn’t vote at all.” Such apathy! Come on people! To me it seems clear – and I’m no political major! You look at the policies of the party, what stand they take on issues that are important to you, and vote for the party. Why would you vote for a party you don’t agree with because you feel they are going to get in anyway? It’s ludicrous! While you may have had a winning vote, you are surely not winning!

The second thing I’d like to talk about is “blue air.” Why is it that some people use profane, blasphemous, sacrilegious, vulgar language in everyday, casual conversation so naturally? Not only do I hear it when somebody is surprised, shocked, or upset. I hear it in jest, in mixed company and in the presence of children. The most commonly used adjective seems to be the word “fuck”. I have been amazed to work in offices with “professional” people who use this expletive as a noun, a verb and an adjective all in one sentence. In fact it seems like they see how many times they can use the word in one sentence. For some of these “professional” people I would like to turn their microphones and tape recorders around to let them hear themselves as others hear them for a while. Not only is it crude and improper, it makes me cringe. One day when I worked in one of these offices, a person said to me “that’s ok Bev; you can say the word “fuck” because it’s in the dictionary now.” Whoopee do! So are a couple of hundred thousand other tasteful, suitable, choice utterances that can be used to express thoughts with elegance and class. When I hear a person speak in such a profane manner, it speaks to me of ignorance. It is uncouth, impolite, crude, ill-mannered and rude.

Whew! I’m glad I got that off my chest!

Mountains of Snow

We haven't had snow for a few days now and the banks have settle down nicely and frozen in place. We're having a large Labrador day today. Since I usually go to work before daylight and come home after dark, it was nice to get out in the beautiful sunshine. I donned my long fur coat and trotted out to get a few photos. I had to do it quickly though. The temperature was -18C with a windchill of -29C. It felt like my eyebrows were freezing and I was getting an ice cream headache without eating the ice cream. When you're all bundled up and hurring along, it's hard to keep your mouth closed - it sure wakens those sensitive teeth! It's a good thing I remembered where my house was because it's not in full view anymore from the road. If you peep around those snowbanks you'll find it.


Right after the storm the banks on either side of the road were as high as or higher than the car. It felt clostrophobic driving the narrow streets with high banks - like going through a maze. Now that the snowblower has gone by and widened out the streets it's easier to see around the corners. Here's what I see when I look up and down my street: