some church sketching

Just a bit of sketching from church this morning . . . . I really should sit somewhere other than near the front of the church so I could actually sketch some people. At least they sit longer than people in the dentist’s waiting room!

I’m not the only one drawing . . .

Bill must have drawn at least 10 different versions of converting a sheep barn into a cottage plus woodshop — but I think he has finally settled on one. The main open living space will be down the center of the barn where the roof peaks (we’ll have exposed trusses), partially divided by a counter-height eating bar. Because it’s the middle of the barn, there will be huge windows at the front door and the back to let in as much natural light as possible. He drew this upper drawing of the north-facing kitchen windows and back door, the kitchen sink and lower cabinets. Then he drew the second one showing the east kitchen cabinets with stove and microwave. There will be additional storage next to the refrigerator on the west wall.

I love watching Bill’s thought processes as he designs our new home and the new woodshop. He has such great ideas, such as a wall of built-in storage in the woodshop on the common wall dividing house from shop — creating an affective noise buffer! Also the perfect place for things like camping gear and Christmas decorations.

waiting . . .

So how long is “normal” in selling one’s home? It’s been a couple of weeks and no one has asked to view our property in person yet.

When we sold the Craftsman Tudor Revival bungalow we raised our family in, we put our own sign in the yard — and we had a buyer in about a week. The 1920 apartment building we renovated was on the market only 6 days before being sold.

I realize that both of these previous experiences were unusual, but we really thought we’d have some activity by now. Our realtor says there’s been daily “hits” on the online sites and one interested caller in particular, but no showings yet. But it’s currently a “buyer’s market” in this part of Texas.

With our two previous experiences, I guess we’re just impatient.

at Wright Dentistry

Even sketching quickly, if I start to draw a person in a waiting room, that person invariably leaves. This lady’s glasses were so very big and black, and she so pale and blonde, I had to give it a go!

After she left, I next sketched the building across the street. There was no other person in the waiting room left to draw — did someone warn them that a sketchbook artist was lurking about?

just horsing around

On Father’s Day, I had jotted down some Bible verses . . . and then my smaller journal remained buried in my bag. Yesterday I pulled it out to draw a funny tin sculpture we saw sitting on the patio of our daughter’s new home. The sellers have not moved their belongings out yet — I assume they’ll take this silly guy with them, along with their sheep and sheepdogs, sometime in the next two weeks.

Sketch With Me: challenge

This past weekend was the monthly virtual sketch crawl with the Sketch With Me group, and this month’s prompt was “challenge”. The challenge of a hard subject, a new medium, etc.

For me lately, the real challenge is taking time to sketch at all! With Bill’s ongoing dentist appointments, my periodontal appointments, our going through stuff to get rid of anything we don’t wish to move (if we haven’t used it in 5 years, why keep it?), meeting with the realtor to sell the cabin, taking time for get-togethers with our kids in Pflugerville, Needville, and Houston . . .

In fact, getting photos for the realtor proved to be my biggest challenge this weekend! The company’s photographer came out to take photos — and they turned out horribly! So dark and depressing, I sure wouldn’t want to look at the property as she captured it! She’s young; perhaps it is just a summer job for her. I admit taking photos of a small space in a dark log cabin can be challenging, but I knew we could do better. After all, it was a great bunch of photos that made Bill and me consider buying the cabin in the first place — and we have improved it since then!

So our daughter came out to stage the furnishings better and take new photos. And what a difference they were! It’s good to take time for sun or cloudiness to get the right outdoor shots, and get the right angle to enhance a space rather than making it seem to close in on itself! Our cabin, though built of darkly painted logs, is really quite a sunny place with lots of gorgeous views of trees.

I gave the new photos to our realtor to replace the first ones online but ran into another glitch: Kristen’s camera resolution was too high, creating files too large to upload. So, with our son Jason’s help, I now have the correct pixel size and hope the new photos will be posted later today.

Leaving very little sketching time. But ever since we moved in 5 1/2 years ago, I have wanted to draw this view of our loft from the steep stair-ladder made of half-logs, looking upwards to the peaked roof log beams. That’s my great-grandmother’s quilt hanging over the right railing. At first I thought I’d just paint it and leave the heavy logs with the white bead board in between them in ink only. But now I’m not so sure . . . Should I paint the logs as well?

a fawn we call Rose

This year our old fashioned roses aren’t blooming at all. In fact they may eventually die. Recent flooding at Lake Somerville killed off the local deer feeding grounds and they are foraging wherever they can, including our roses.

Yesterday morning Bill was getting ready to do some touch-up painting on the patio when he found that a doe had hidden her fawn right in our rose bed. He quietly backed away, putting the painting off.

We watched all day and into the stormy night, waiting for the doe to return. Finally, sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 am, she came to care for the fawn and move her to a new location.

This is not the first time a doe has decided we were a safe environment for fawns to be hidden. I am going to miss visitors like this after we move. Although there are lots of deer at our new home as well, we will also have Bradley — our granddaughter’s Great Pyrenees / golden mix — who has a very loud bark and will probably discourage wildlife visitations.

recent Etsy sales

Amidst all the activity of searching, then buying property, and preparing to sell the cabin, I have pretty much been ignoring my Etsy shop. I seldom mention the sketches I sell on this blog anyway — just post things for sale and leave them be.

So what a surprising couple of weeks it’s been! In 1 1/2 weeks, I have had 7 orders! Some prints, some original ink & wash sketches, mostly wildflower sketches but also some vignettes. With each sale, I mark it in this ledger, print a postage label which is then taped to a mailing envelope, then drive it to the nearest post office.

Add another item to my to-do lists: I need to find the nearest post office to our new home out in the country! Maybe in the nearby community of Field Store?

at Freebird’s

We’ve been so busy lately, we haven’t always been home to cook meals, nor have we found time to buy groceries on a regular basis.

On this day, following a longer-than-average dental appointment, we stopped to eat at Freebird’s in College Station. Mostly they sell custom burritos; we ordered burrito bowls which is all of our chosen burrito stuffings served without a tortilla.

A place we found in Fredericksburg called that a “naked breakfast taco”.

BTW, the watercolor was added in the car while Bill  drove on a very bumpy farm road —- not as much value as I would have wished but at least I didn’t splotch much!

we got it after all!

After our daughter and son-in-law made a bid on a country property last weekend, they were told that the sellers decided to go with one of the other bids instead. So we went back to looking at other available properties, planning to see two of them today.

Then began a mad rush of phone texts between their realtor, the sellers’ realtor, our kids, and us. Apparently the chosen buyers decided to back out and our kids got the house! And Bill and I will be selling our cabin and converting this sheep barn into a barndominium house plus woodshop!

So we never got around to looking at these two properties today. I’ve been sketching bits of each place we look at in one of my sketchbooks, to keep the details straight in my mind. As we look at them, I jot down our thoughts or measurements  next to my sketches, then later mark an X through those we decide are a definite “no”.

Bill has been drawing up some ideas for a little house, with lots of wood touches and keeping as much ranch (and barn) style as possible. I think he’s having more than average fun!

the Flint Hills

I’ve been slow at finishing these sketches . . .
We returned to Kansas last week for a friend’s funeral, held in Emporia, KS. As our son Jason drove us up the Turnpike, I snapped some photos with my phone, to be sketched later.

These are the beautiful Flint Hills we used to live near. When I used to meet with friends in the Kansas City area for monthly sketch crawls, these are what we drove through. Though I seldom actually sketched them while I lived in Kansas.

After grueling cattle drives from Texas, cattle were brought here to fatten up on the rich tall bluegrass before heading for the trains. We have seen them in every season, drenching rain and drought, and even during the yearly burning of the Flint Hills. Always beautiful, always a bit mysterious.

waiting to hear . . .

We have been looking at country properties with our daughter and son-in-law since last autumn, hoping for a down-sized house for them and and in-law cottage for us. An early one we looked at was a “no” but I did this sketch of the sheep farm next door — I liked that barn with the longhorn cow sculpture!

Last Saturday, the sheep farm went on the market and we checked it out on Friday. Loved it so much that our kids put in a bid on it. As did several others, 2 of them strong contenders. So we are waiting to see if our bid is accepted or not.

If our bid were to be accepted, this barn — which has been painted barn red sometime between last November and now — would be remade into a small house and woodshop for us. Bill is sketching some plans as we all eagerly wait the sellers’ decision.

UPDATE: We just heard, the sellers decided to go with one of the other offers instead of ours. So back to looking . . . 😏

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: The first buyer has backed out and our kids’ offer was accepted. Looks like Bill and I are going to build a house out of a barn!

pain relief at last!

While at church this morning, I wrote down some Bible verses from the lesson, and randomly sketched this tin of pain relieving salve from an Amazon photo. Our daughter heard about using hemp preparations for nerve pain from a friend of hers. She researched to find the one most recommended by consumer reviews, then ordered this brand, Rosita Hemp Salve, for Bill.

He has suffered chronic nerve pain (neuropathy) for 5 1/2 years, since a few months following his first bypass surgery. It seemed to get better after other surgeries but returned after a month or so, often worse than before. Steroid injections and oral medications gave no relief at all.

But the past week he has been using a very light application of this salve a couple of times a day and he’s had amazing results! Some underlying pain is still there, but not enough to keep hm from doing whatever he wants to. And he’s finally able to get some real sleep! Before, he could only manage about 2 or 3 hours total sleep per night due to pain. So thankful for some real relief!

I recently put together a mini gouache set using metal pans from Expeditionary Art and a Flip Case card holder from Wellspring. I would have added a couple more colors but ran out of the smaller pans.

I thought I’d try using gouache in my purse-sized sketchbook, using it thinned out for washes similar to watercolor and thicker when I want a more bold approach. Just playing, really . . .

absolutely my best pen!

My birthday isn’t till next month . . . but the price of this Pilot Namiki Falcon fountain pen dropped by $50 so Bill bought it for me early.

The soft extra fine nib is wonderful! So much easy flex!

I’m almost out of my favorite ink, De Atramentis Document black, so I’ll need to order some soon.