autumn in Texas

I found a colorful autumn in this part of Texas after all. Though most of the trees are still fully green and there are flowers blooming everywhere, we found several trees and shrubs going through seasonal color changes.

Meanwhile, the house search continues. Many of the houses we found on-line where ruled out when seen in person, but there are 3 we are interested in. Lots to consider . . .

date night

On Friday, we had a real date night . . . haven/t had one of those in quite some time. Good friends of ours have a Celtic band called Knocknasheega and they were playing at The Kiln.

The Kiln is a 501c3 organization, operated totally on donations of patrons. They are a Christian coffee house that also serves various teas, sandwiches, and desserts. All profits go to helping those in need. Those with musical talents are invited to share their gifts with others; a separate donation is given to the band when they "pass the pitcher".

Watching Knocknasheega perform is more like participating in an old fashioned Scottish or Irish ceilidh! Good friends getting together for a bit of song, story-telling and jokes (some groaningly bad) --- and they invite others to join them in their celebration of life.

This sketchbook is becoming a remembrance journal as I record different things I will miss when we leave Kansas. Good friends are definitely highest on the list.

a few more leaves . . .

When Bill had his heart attack, he said his goal is to go to Arkansas for his birthday . . . . and so we did, visiting dear friends in the woods of Mountain Home.

We took several walks everyday, enjoying the signs of Autumn, bird songs, and peace. Makes us look more seriously at properties in the country when it comes time to buy our next home.

Mostly the woods are oak trees. LOTS of varieties of oak. These are just a few of the leaf types we saw. No burr oaks though -- that's the most common type in our Kansas neighborhood.

In a way, we were celebrating the changeable beauty of Autumn, which we won't see much of after moving to Texas.

We chose a different path driving home, going through Bolivar, MO where a couple of our kids went to college. Later we stopped to eat in Fort Scott, where my great grandparents' home was. I have very fond memories of visiting my great-aunt Lucile there. I take after both her and her younger sister, my grandmother. Lucile as also my childhood penpal.

Autumn's whirlwind

It has been a real whirlwind around here lately. Today I paused to catch my breath and sketch leaves picked up on one of our many walks. Bill is walking as much as he can, slowly getting his strength back following his heart surgery. He is now cleared for traveling, so we plan on visiting our kids in Texas soon. While there, we decided to line up a realtor to look at houses. That led to us deciding to put our home on the market --- being a 1920 apartment building, it's a bit of an unusual listing and we had no idea what to expect trying to sell it.


One day after signing to sell, the sewer backed up. No problem . . . Bill can't do the work at the moment but a plumbing friend could ____ BIG PROBLEM. Turns out the outside line was broken and would need to be dug up and repaired. The sewer here is 20 feet deep and the city locators were no help at all. It was eventually found and repaired 8 hours later; now our backyard parking lot is a mud mountain. Hard to fit all that dirt back in when it had been compacted 93 years.

Meanwhile, we received an offer on the building, we counter-offered, and it was accepted --- sold in less than one week! As part of the deal they offered us 90 days from closing__rent free__to give us time to find a new home and move. Our heads are still spinning from the speed of it all.

color therapy

 

I have made many color charts over the past 6 or 7 years, and have a pretty good understanding of what pigments mix into what colors. But sometimes working a gridded color chart can be just plain soothing. Which is the main reason I did these primary palette charts in my new sketchbook.

here's to new beginnings

My summer sketchbook is finally filled. Packed to the gills with memories both good and bad, from time spent with our eldest granddaughter while her parents vacationed in Scotland to Bill's heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery. I am happily moving on to a brand new sketchbook, this time trying the Stillman & Birn hardbound Beta series sketchbook. I've heard such wonderful things about this brand --- from sketching this first page, I can say that the paper is fabulous!

These are my two current favorite palettes. The one on the left holds every one of my 20 paints for serious sketching. Resting on top are favorite travel brushes which have a separate holder of their own.

The palette on the right holds it's own brushes. I recently put 2 primary triads in it, plus phthalo green and burnt umber. One triad is bright and one is a more muted, earthy set. I don't use phthalo green on it's own and had removed it from my 20 paints. But it makes lovely mixes and I had this leftover pan, so why not?

Bill's new "main squeeze"

I've been planning to sketch this post-heart surgery pillow all week . . . but it is very hard to catch it out of Bill's arms. He has definitely learned to keep it close at all times, to ease coughing and moving.

Spelling was one of my favorite grade school subjects. So how did I ever spell "squeeze" without a "U"?

the torture of healing

Getting well following major surgery hurts . . . . sometimes more than the condition requiring surgery. But it is all part of the healing process.

Bill was sent home yesterday, only 3 days after his double bypass. Still finds it hard to move and a good night's sleep eludes him. But moving forward none the same.

This does not look like Bill at all --- I need more practice drawing people. Those we love seem to always be harder to capture. I refilled my Lamy Safari pen with Carbon Black ink (I normally use Noodler's Polar Black). The new ink flows faster, making it difficult to get a really fine line even when turning the nib upside-down. It might work better in my pen with a flexible nib.

moving on to the healing stage

Bill came through the 3-hour surgery smoothly, with all blockages repaired. Experienced a lot of pain afterwards in the ICU, but that's to be expected. Today he will be moved to a regular room and begin the long road of "rehab".

Knowing I'd be in this waiting room quite a while, I had thought to get in some practice sketching people. But knowing they were each there during a hard time in their lives, I didn't have the heart to draw any of them. One lady even asked if I was drawing her (sounding a bit worried) --- I assured her that I wasn't and even showed her the sketch.

I have felt no problems sketching people in other situations without asking their permission . . . . but somehow in a surgical / ICU waiting room, it seemed like an invasion of privacy.

and it begins . . .

Checked Bill into the hospital yesterday . . . drew this thingy on the wall while waiting for "night before surgery" procedures. Now he is in being prepped (double by-pass) and I'm filling time in the waiting room. Expect to be waiting for the next 3 - 4 hours. Trusting the Lord to be right beside him.