National Day of Prayer

National Day of Prayer

5.5" x 8.5"

ink and watercolor

There has been a lot of controversy this year concerning the National Day of Prayer. Of course, we should have it in this country. No question about that.

This is my little contribution. Remembering Sneed Memorial Methodist Church in Calvert, with the Sunday School Superintendent, Joe Bill Foster, ending Sunday School each Sunday, with the Benediction. The big stained glass window, depicting Jesus, behind him was painted by our artist, Miss May Foster.

Whether you gathered in a big group today, went to a church or community event, or said a private prayer, or painted a window, or a picture, sang a song in a choir or as you drove in your car, were especially kind to someone, watched a service on the computer or tv , I know that you feel better for participating in our National Day of Prayer. And we are all better off for it.

Here, there was a gathering at the Palace Theatre in downtown Bryan. Probably some services in churches around town too.

My yellow is too strong in the scan, again, and I see that I scanned it sort of crooked. But maybe it will stir a memory for you, too.

In God We Trust

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The Colonoscopy

Top Photo-My face turned red and puffed up after the prep for my colonoscopy. They didn't seem concerned. It was sort of like the time I got a large vitamin hung in my throat and broke the capillaries in my face trying to cough it up. I looked like I had a sunburn! Maybe it was a reaction to something or maybe from straining. I asked, but they didn't know.

The day of the procedure, my daughter and oldest grandson drove me to the clinic. They waited in the exam room while I changed clothes in the bathroom, then sat on the guerney, waiting for the nurse. Those IV bags always look so ominous. And I felt silly, sitting there with a hospital gown over my blouse! And I thought that my new haircut looked like someone put a bowl on my head and cut my hair like in the Depression times!

I asked the nurse to not probe for a vein and told her some possibilities. My veins do not want to be poked and do not cooperate! She probed anyway and I thought I was going to faint or cry. I just covered my eyes and hoped she would get it soon. She finally got it in and I was afraid to move, fearing that the needle would come out.

She rolled me to the surgical area, with its monitors and machines. They rolled me in backwards from the way I had been for the endoscopic procedures.

Drawing 2- The nurse busied herself behind my head, and I could see the various monitors and machines. I hoped I would be asleep quickly. I sort of wanted to see, but thought it wold be best to sleep through it all.

Dr. D. came in, listened to my heart, said "Hello", and busied himself behind me. With the last endoscopic exam, I didn't go to sleep right away. They put the "muzzle" on my mouth and the dr. came toward me with the wand. I tried my best to tell them that I was still awake, but that was hard with a "muzzle" on my mouth. The dr. and nurse pushed on the needle in my hand until I finally went to sleep. I didn't want this to start while I was still awake! I panicked before.

The nurse told me to turn over and face her. I wondered if I could do that with my knee still sore from the knee replacement surgery. I did and held onto the rail.

Picture 3-The nurse balanced 3 huge needles in her hand. I hoped that those were not going in me, but in the IV. She asked, "Three?" And she shot them into the IV. She told me that I would be going to sleep soon, and she turned back to the counter.

I waited. Seemed like I was wide awake, despite having little sleep the night before.

When am I going to get sleepy!

Picture 4- I watched the clock on the wall and waited, with the nurse and dr. still busy at their places where I couldn't see them very well. The room was bright, the clock was very white. Time didn't really seem to change much. This was taking so long, I wished I had my sketchbook, or my camera.

The numbers on the clock seemed funny. Why was there the numbers 10, 11, and 12 on the side where 1, 2, and 3 were? I guess that was the way they kept time there in this room. Different from normal clocks.

Bottom Picture-Suddenly, I was telling some kind of a story, probably about Calvert or ancestors, and being rolled into a cubicle that had curtains that looked like quilt blocks. Squares of fabric in blue, soft pink and purple. There was a chair in the corner by the curtain. The IV was gone and I sat up on the bed.

My daughter and grandson came in to sit down for a short while before I was sent home with instructions.

Dr. D. came in and and stood by the bed. He said that all went well and everything looked good. All he found were some internal hemorroids and I would get a report within a week.

I don't remember putting on my shoes. Maybe I left them on. I don't remember leaving the building. I remember riding in the car. I had to put on my sunglasses.

At home, I got on my bed and curled up with the cat. We had a good nap..... All afternoon!

I didn't hurt, didn't have the gas problem that some people talk of having, and wasn't particularly hungry afterward.

It wasn't all that bad. The puffiness and redness in my face went away after a few days. It happened again a couple of weeks later, so I'm not sure what is going on with that. I asked the dermatologist about it and he just advised using glycerine soap and moisturize twice a day. That doesn't work for wrinkles!

Anyway, I survived the test and had a good report. Maybe I won't have to do that again.

I still don't know what causes my stomach problems. The dr. advised using Lomotil every 6 hours, or take 2 in the morning, another at lunch time. Sometimes that helps, sometimes, it doesn't.

*********

They're still talking about Harry Smith's Colonoscopy-live on tv. On their own program, Harry Smith was teased about the pictures. They laughed about using those on his Christmas cards.

An actress made a joke about it, but she used some word that had to be bleeped. I couldn't understand what she said. And, of course, David Letterman was talking about it.

I guess it is good if it gets the message across to those who might be reluctant.

One thing that might help would be to develop a prep procedure that wouldn't involve drinking nasty stuff, or spending uncomfortable hours in the bathroom. And, to let people realize that the test itself is not that bad.

***

I put a box at the top of my blog, saying Contact Congress. I hope that D.C. gets the message that this Health Care bill is wrong. We need reform, not takeover and what is being proposed.

**

After the Colonoscopy

Harry Smith was all over the news and internet last week, with his colonoscopy, broadcast live and in color, on morning tv. Jimmy Kimmel and others made jokes about it, which you can see on You Tube and other places. The colonoscopy can also be seen as a repeat on various websites from KBTX to CBS. Live-Harry's Colonoscopy. On You Tube, you can also see an informative Lower GI Colonoscopy and Colon Hydro Therapy. There is even a listing for Colonoscopy Karaoke, which is supposed to have someone singing during the procedure. I only found a picture, but wonder what it actually is. I imagnine someone kind of out of it from anesthesia, singing away, during a colonoscopy, but I don't really know. I wonder what people do. I thought they slept, but maybe they talk-and sing! Could be embarrassing!

Katie Couric, who had a colonoscopy on tv about 10 years ago, stood by Harry's side during the event last week, and joked, as well as tried to inform viewers about a very serious health issue.

Of course, they didn't show the really difficult part, which is the preparation day-the day before. They just said that it was hard, and involved going to the bathroom a lot, and drinking a lot of required fluid.

Well, I thought, "How timely!" They should have showed it last December!"

For probably 20 years or more, my dr. told me that I should have a colonoscopy, especially considering all the stomach trouble I've had. I knew that I couldn't drink all that bad tasting stuff, and I was really scared to go through what I had heard about and imagined. I thought about it for years. I decided that I had social anxiety from things I had seen on tv, and nothing really wrong, physically.

The last straw, though, came when I had my knee replacement. All went okay, except for pain, until they gave everyone in the "class" a stool softener, the day we "graduated" and could go home. I was planning to stay an extra day, anyway, while they tried to get me in a rehab facility. (I didn't qualify.) Their reasoning was that almost everyone gets constipated after surgery, so everyone got a stool softener.

At the graduation ceremony, I felt a little gassy, which I was told was normal after surgery. However, when I had to stand up and walk to get my diploma, there was a little puddle of brown stuff in my chair. I was soooo embarrassed! But no one could see anything on my dark clothes and it was on all the padding they had on the reclining chair.

When I got back to my room, I told the nurse and she said that was normal. But, all the rest of the day, it got worse.

I couldn't get to the bathroom or a potty chair fast due to my knee. So, they finally put me in a hospital gown and a diaper. I just kept going and going and had to have the nurses change me.

They gave me lots of Immodium and it didn't work. They finally switched me to Lomotil and that didn't seem to work either. They took stool samples, which came back negative. Nothing seemed to work, and they didn't seem too concerned about it. I quit eating, just taking my meds and sipping Sprite or 7 Up and nibbling on crackers.

When my fever was clear and they couldn't find a reason for the diarrhea, they sent me home. I had bad diarrhea for a solid week after taking that stool softener. I thought that the hospital should have kept me and tried to find out the problem. But, no. They sent me home.

I still wasn't able to make it to the bathroom fast, so we put a potty chair by my bed, which my family didn't like. They refused to help me, so, eventually, I drug myself to the bathroom to clean everything up myself. Home Healthcare came to the house, and they wouldn't do that either, and got mad because my family wouldn't help. They weren't around very long.

Eventually, I was able to get to the point where I could get to the bathroom on my own, and take care of myself. But it was a miserable time!

When I went back to my doctor, she was horrified that I had never had a colonoscopy, at my age. These are supposed to start at about age 50.

I decided that I just had to do something about the stomach problems, so I agreed to schedule a colonoscopy again.

Dr. D. wanted to have a consultation with me before hand, and said he wanted to wait so many weeks after I had had anesthesia, so he scheduled me for January 4. A terrible way to start the new year, I felt. He had done two endoscopic procedures to check my stomach and stretch my esophogas, already. I think he joked about now checking me from one end to the other. It's hard to tell about him, in my observation. Maybe I was just scared.

The nurse gave me a little brown paper sack with instructions and two small bottles, like the old milk bottles, of a fizzy liquid, and 2 small brown pills. I put it in the cabinet in the bathroom and thought that I would probably back out and never use those things.
I worried all during the Christmas holidays and heard others talk about how bad it was to drink all that big container of nasty liquid. I looked for information online and thought, "I can't do this. I'll probably cancel."

But, with each thing that I had to avoid doing because I got sick at my stomach, I thought, "I had better see what the problem is and get it fixed."

"You're not going," my daughter told me. She said she had one, but I don't remember it. She said she drank a big jug of stuff, and others said that too. I wondered why I had only a couple of small bottles. I read the labels and it said that it was the same size as a Sprite. If it isn't so nasty, I can probably do that, I thought. The directions said that you only had to drink one at 5 p.m. and another one at 8 p.m., and the two little pills at 10 p.m. That shouldn't be so bad.

I worreid about this all through Christmas and decided that I should record it in my sketchbook.

My daughter told the dr. she wanted pictures, but the nurse said that he doesn't do that. I thought that he is behind the times, or, maybe he is really ahead of things, by not offering a big jug of nasty liquid to drink. I guess the little bottles are probably new, and improved, from everything I have heard and read.

I can't swallow big pills and have to crush them in ice cream, so the small pills were a plus, too.

I still told myself that I would cancel, so not to worry about it. But I did, anyway. One worry was what would happen if I took a strong laxative, considering how just a mild stool softener had affected me. I could imagine really terrible diarrhea, for a long time, that nothing would stop!

I was assured that, once everything was out, it would stop. I didn't believe that after having bad diarrhea for a week!

For years, my stomach would hurt when I had to go somewhere, even a place I looked forward to going. I couldn't go to the grocery store, shopping, to work, on a trip, without taking Immodium first. Otherwise, I was sure to get there and be miserable with a stomach ache, or just had to leave when my stomach started hurting. I decided that it was social anxiety, or something. I would be fine when I left home, looking forward to whatever I was going to do, and, when I got there, or got close, here came the stomach ache.

I told Dr. D. this during the consultation. He just listened, then said that it was good that I understood this. He said that some people can't go anywhere without taking something first, or they just quit leaving home. That's not an option, I thought. Surely there is some kind of medicine that works, if that is the problem.

Instead, he just scheduled the colonoscopy.

The New Year arrived and I started a new sketchbook. Of course, the first thing to document was the dreaded colonoscopy.

"You're not going, are you?" I knew mydaughter didn't want to take me anywhere, but she has always wanted people to go have surgery, etc. She should have worked hard at school and become a dr. or researcher, I thought. But, no, she just enjoyed it, like ghost hunting. Now, though, when I needed some support, she became squeamish and also didn't want to be bothered taking me places.

"I have to try. I've got to get over this problem." I said.

I took out the instructions and read them a few times.

My birthday came and I thought I should enjoy it, while I could. Who could tell what might happen if I had that test. I dressed up and even treated myself to a new camera and a haircut for myself and my grandson. I thought we would go out and eat and have someone sing to me. But, my daughter brought me home, then went to Rudy's and brought back some barbeque. I could have stayed in my houseclothes!

The next day was Preparation Day. The day that was supposed to be the worst of the procedure.

I slept late, then spent the afternoon in the stores, trying to figure out what I could eat. The instructions said,

Liquid Only

Nothing with fat, milk, or cream

Nothing with red or purple

You could have clear broth, but doesn't that have fat, and also salt which is not on my other diet

And that canned broth is really nasty by itself, and so are those cubes.

I wondered what ever happened to lime and lemon Jello! The shelves were full of orange and red Jello, and only one package of diet lime Jello. I bought the one little package, made it up, but couldn't eat it, it was so nasty. Threw that away and found an old package of lime Jello and made that. I ended up eating only Sprite, all day.

I had chilled the bottles of laxative, as directed, and started sipping that at 5. Not too bad, if you like sour things. Very strong lemon flavor, that fizzed, like champagne, I told myself. After a few sips, though, it was too sour, so I would drink a sip, eat some lime Jello, and wash it all down with Sprite. That worked okay, but the second bottle was harder. I got it down, though.

I had put new carpet in my bedroom, so everything was in the living room. I decided that I needed to be close to the bathroom, according to what others had said. I moved the trundle bed near my bathroom, temporarily. Put the potty chair beside it, in case! My grandson's tv was small, so I put it in the bedroom, temporarily. I put some plastic drop cloths in the bathroom, also in case... I put extra toilet paper, wipes, magazines, and adult diapers in the bathroom. Then the top light burned out in the bathroom. I couldn't climb the ladder to change it, due to my knee. I asked the tall people in the house to change it, and they all said, "Later." Weeks later, the youngest changed it for me! So, I couldn't read, but I had lights from the next room, so it was okay.

"Haven't you gone yet?" My daughter asked.

10 p.m. and it was time to take the pills and I still hadn't started going. I decided that I hadn't eaten much in a few days, so there wasn't a lot to get rid of.

I thought that I might vomit if I had to drink anymore of that sour stuff by the time I finished the second bottle.

I thought about when my grandmother, great aunts, and aunt used to go to Marlin and had those high colonics, and thought it was wonderful! I thought they must be a bit sadistic, to think that was something to do willingly!

And I thought of Katie Couric, doing this on tv. I sort of would like to watch, too, but I think I am too cowardly.

By 5:30 a.m., I was getting sore from going so much, but a warm, wet cloth helped, more than the wipes. Couldn't make it through the 2 rooms to the bathroom, so I used the diapers and was glad I had them from the hospital. I was getting too miserable to read the magazines, if I could have seen them in the dark. I wanted to sleep, but couldn't stay in the bed long enough. Finally dozed off for 30 minutes about 6 a.m. By then it was time to get up and get dressed to go to the clinic.

I worried that I might have to go and couldn't wait.

My daughter and oldest grandson drove me to the appointment. The nurse took us all into the exam room. They sat in the chairs and I looked, nervously, at the guerney with the IV, waiting. The nurse told me to go into the bathroom and take off my lower clothes, put on the hospital gown. I asked about leaving the diaper on, for now, in case....

She said they could work around it! It was okay.

In the above drawings, are some of the things after the colonoscopy. More in my next post about the actual colonosocopy.

You can read about someone else's experience at http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/archives/2010/01/i_finally_had_a.php

"I Finally Had A Colonoscopy". This was in the New York News.

The top drawing was started in the waiting room of my doctor's office.

Second and third drawings were a few days when I was sick at my stomach at home, after the colonoscopy. Maybe it was something going around, or maybe it was my usual self!

Fourth drawing was on Daddy's birthday, when I got my results. My daughter spent the day sleeping, as usual, and I was in the bathroom, fixing my hair, when the nurse called with my results from the colonoscopy. Everything was okay. Just keep taking my meds, I was told.

I felt like I had been shuffled through the door and didn't learn a thing or resolve the problem.

I guess it was good that I finally went through with it, after backing out for years.

In the last drawing, I was standing in line at the clinic, waiting to see the dermotologist, when the old stomach pains hit, and I really couldn't wait for my turn at the window. I wanted to run around to see the other doctor for Help! I managed to check in, then run to the bathroom. I could hardly focus on my dermatology appointment.

If you need to have a colonoscopy, maybe the experiences of others will help you get through it. Or maybe you can identify with these experiences. Or maybe I'm "in style" with Harry Smith on tv. I didn't have a camera crew and news anchor to go along with me. I was sure wishing that I had someone to help me through it! But I survived, with a good report, and another "adventure".

***

Sketch Crawl Tomorrow

26th World Wide Sketch Crawl

Saturday Feb. 27

In Bryan, meet at 9 a.m. at the Clara Mounce Library downtown

In Calvert, meet at 9 a.m. at Mud Creek Pottery on Main St.

The above sketches are from my sketchbook, done while waiting. I have all kinds of sketches from experiences to what I observe, journal pages to gesture drawings, memories to imagination.

Different people are going to interpret what they put into their sketchbooks and journals differently.

The first sketch is one I did yesterday, while I was waiting in the Social Security Office. Light reflecting off the tin roof of this office building (which looks like a big house!) and the strong shadows from morning light, were very interesting. I also took a photo of the building, but it doesn't show the shadows as I saw them. The guard asked me what I was going to take a picture of, so I showed him my sketchbook and talked to him about drawing. I'm glad that he decided that I wasn't up to no good-just an old lady drawing!

The next picture is one that I did while I was waiting to be hooked up to a monitor and checked in at cardiac rehab. I only had time to do a gesture or stick drawing of a lady on the treadmill. They don't let you sit around there! But I had enough information to finish the drawing later and add a little bit of watercolor. No detail but I captured the pose and the moment.

I did the next drawing at supper while we waited for our food. Very strong shadows in there due to low lighting so I was more interested in that than in food. I didn't take pictures there, but maybe I should have. I thought it was kind of funny to have supper in the cotton patch! They got my order wrong, which was sort of nice. Gave me more time to draw. Had to send it back again because instead of fixing me another plate correctly, they just scraped off the wrong stuff and sent the plate back, dirty and cold. By the time I got mine, everyone else was ready to leave. So I brought my food home and ate part of it later. Wasn't too good warmed up, so it ended up going in the trash. But, I got a pretty good drawing, I think!

The last sketch is of some kind of object, hanging over the door to another part of the Longhorn Tavern, a fairly new place in downtown Bryan. They used to be out by the auction barn on north Hwy 6 going toward Hearne. But, they recently moved into the old Coca Cola bottling plant in downtown Bryan and the old building on the highway was torn down. At night, the dining room with all the old license plates, etc. and the room with big windows, was closed. The slilding doors were partially opened, and it was very dark. Some VIPs came in and the waitresses showed them into that room, which was then very light!

I thought that this object looked like it might have been one of those old railroad signal lights, of some sort.

I drew while we waited.

This place has huge amounts of food, cooked like it should be. Like we used to get in the old days! There wasn't any way that any of us could eat that much food! But we were really glad to see that.

It's very disappointing these days, to order southern fried chicken, for example, and all you get is this tiny little chicken patty, lightly fried, with hardly any batter. In this place, they have big plates or platters, filled with chicken fried steak, gravey, homestyle french fries. Glasses are big, rolls are big. Steaks are huge. You do get your money's worth!

Of course, I'm usually more interested in sketching than in eating. I always end up having to take most of my food with me.

My little sketchbooks, pencil case with pens, pencils, eraser, sharpener, water brush, little spray bottle, a set of travel watercolors, and my camera, in my purse, make me prepared for any wait time!

And they are ready to go for tomorrow.

I hope that you, too, will be going out to sketch tomorrow. People all over the world will be doing this.l You can start looking at the results on the Sketch Crawl website later tomorrow. Some countries have probably already started.

Remember, it's FREE and open to everyone! You can draw where ever you are, with a group, by yourself, someplace interesting or at home doing laundry!

********

Monday at noon, the Brazos Valley Art League will meet at the Art Center in College Station. There will be an artist's demonstration of encaustic painting.

I need to update their events for March. I received the newsletter, but, for some reason, it won't open.

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My Hearts For Haiti

It's time to send in your heart creations to the Painted Thoughts website, listed in the post below this one, if you haven't already. The 29th actually was the date, but the artist extended the date to over the weekend to give more people an opportunity to participate. I actually did 6. I didn't like the first two at all, especially after I saw some of the other submissions on the Everyday Matters website. Those were really good! So, I went back to the old drawing board, and even looked at all the Valentines displays in the stores.

I'm not really a "heart person", but I figured that I could draw one for a good cause. So, I got some of those little ATC or ACEO papers at Hobby Lobby, pulled out my pen and my watercolors, and tried.

I kind of liked my little cowboy heart, but decided that the result was too weak. Another design with overlapping hearts also looked like it was very lacking and needed to be reworked.

Above, I have "Yellow Rose of Texas... For Haiti"; "Many Hearts Coming Together....For Haiti"; "Delicate Heart...For Haiti"; and "Dainty Heart....For Haiti"; and "A Big Heart From Texas...For Haiti's Heart To Lean On". All are 2.5" x 3.5" on Strathmore acid free Bristol Board or Strathmore acid free watercolor paper.

I'm not sure which one I'm going to send to the project, yet, but I am leaning toward the "Delicate Heart" with the light purple. It may be too light , though, and the "Dainty Heart", with the darker pink, might show up better.

If you like the hearts and would like to purchase one, let me know. The proceeds will go to the Helping Haiti Through Art project.

*****

The Brazos Valley Art League meets tomorrow, Monday, at noon at the Art Center in College Station. There will be a watercolor demonstration by award winning artist, Nellie Kress. Visit with other artists and those who enjoy art before the meeting starts.

*******

And, be sure to go downtown Bryan February 5 for the big Art Step. You can read more about it online through Great Watkins, the Brazos Valley Art League Newsletter, or the Downtown Bryan Association's website.

The Art League will be showing at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, downtown.

*****

A New Year-A New Decade

New Years Day at Toot's

ink

ink/watercolor

8.5 " x 11"

I don't know anyone who really celebrated New Years Day in Calvert, when I was growing up. A lot of people did eat their black eyed peas and cornbread and watch a football game or two on tv

but that didn't seem like a big celebration, to me. I just tried to avoid anyone who was eating vegetables that day and just hung around the house.

Most people went to bed after the news, or, perhaps stayed up to watch Dick Clark or listen to the famous orchestra playing "Auld Lang Syne" when we got tv. But, then it was off to sleep. There was no champagne toasts or revelry. Someone on the outskirts of town might set off firecrackers and start dogs in town barking. And, the Briggs went outside at midnight and rang the large old school bell that was in their yard. After that, we knew that it was the new year, and fell back to a deep sleep.

The only person I knew who seemed to really work at having a traditional New Years Day was Toot. She and Honey lived across the street from us, and I spent a lot of time there-practically a second home.

Honey got up every morning, except Sunday, at 4 a.m. and drove to Waco for fresh produce for his grocery store in Calvert. And Toot got up before him, to have a nice breakfast ready for him.

On New Years Day, I guess he must have still gone to the store because he wasn't there, just like any other week day.

After the breakfast dishes were done, Toot set about cooking her special New Years dinner (the noon meal in Texas). Black eyed peas were bubbling on the stove, and cornbread was in the oven. Toot didn't eat very much because she had had part of her stomach removed when she was middle aged, and, I think, she wanted to stay trim and attractive for Honey. There might be left-over Sunday roast, sometimes turned into hash, and bread pudding. And, of course, a glass of water and a cup of coffee from the percolator.

As the parades started on tv, Toot would go into the hall closet and get out one of her card tables. She took that into the everyday sitting room, or den, and set it up in the middle of the room, near the tv.

She put a bridge cloth on the table, added napkins, and brought out every day china, silverware, and glassware from the kitchen. She put the chair from the Secretary on one side of the table, and a small chair from beside a window opposite it. As she carefully set the little table, she watched the Cotton Bowl and Rose Bowl Parades.

She really looked forward to the Rose Bowl Parade, especially. She made her trips out of the room really fast so she wouldn't miss any of the parades. She loved flowers and worked really hard in her yard. She was impressed with the use of flowers in the parade and seemed to dwell on every blossom and seed.

At dinner time, Honey came home and dutifully ate, silently, at the card table, while Toot was intent on watching the parade.

Dinner over and dishes done, Toot put away the card table and took a short nap. Dress came off and she slept in her slip on a quilt on the floor where the card table had been.

When I was there, I went in and out, hoping to go be with my friends. But, Toot would bring out the stool from the dressing table in the guest bedroom, "for the kids", and place it at the card table. There was a second stool, in case my little sister came over, or if any other company would show up.

Sometimes Irvin or Daddy would drop by and have a taste of dessert.

Toot would spend the afternoon with callers who might drop by, or reading magazines, or darning socks.

For supper, there was left overs and tv, with Honey going to bed early.

For me, I was just looking forward, anxiously, to the next day-my birthday!

************

In the drawing above, I started by drawing the room in pencil, then I went over it with Micron and Pitt pens. Then I added Toot, so you can see a line through her ! Later, I used Winsor Newton watercolors to add a little color. I think I like it better in pen!

This is in a Reflexions 8.5" x 11" sketch book.

***********

I tried to show the corner of the every day sitting room, the den, where the tv was located. The candy jar with peppermint candy is on top of the set. Above the set is the little shelf that Toot had made into the wall where she put an electric clock and a few knick knacks.

The room was basically done in browns.

The wide window on the east side showed the shrubs and lawn beyond the porch, the empty lot and street, just in front of the school. You can see the gym, parking lot , and north end of the school. The window on the south side showed an empty field that filled with Indian Paintbrushes in the spring-until some people bought the lots and built homes there in more recent years. You can see the house where the Nash family lived on the corner on the next street, and the house where Doris Johnson lived next to it. The roof of the Lange house is just beyond the trees.

Mud Creek Mountains are the trees that rise on the horizon. Weekly, we could see smoke from the trash being burned at the garbage dump at the edge of town, just over the trees.

Toot's house was rather interesting. Her father had it built just behind his house on Railroad Street as a wedding present when she married in 1913. It was a prefab house, built by Sears. He completely furnished the house for the newlyweds, except for the kitchen. He insisted that the couple have all their meals with him!

There were 3 large cotton gins downtown, that put out a great deal of lint, etc. during ginning time. The stuff floated everywhere and filled almost every window screen in town. People had to frequently hose or sweep down the screens and, the closer you were to town, the more often the screens, and everything else, had to be cleaned. It wasn't as bad toward the school, far away from the gin, but, the closer you were to town, the worse it was. I guess that the wind direction didn't help, either.

Toot suffered terribly with sinus trouble. The doctor even prescribed "medicated" cigarettes for her, but nothing worked. He finally unpacked her sinuses that were filled with cotton lint.

In 1939, her father died. Honey bought lots near the school, and their cottage was moved in 1940, on logs, pulled by oxen, to the new location in front of the school.

Toot still suffered from sinus trouble and allergies, as a lot of people did, but, at least, they were further away from the cotton gins.

The house still stands, although changed somewhat from when Toot lived there. She is probably not very happy that her beloved flowers and magnolia trees are all gone.

It was a special place.

***

Happy Hogamanay, New Years Eve, and Blue Moon Night

Riding Near OSR on Christmas Day
My Decorated Cane

My Decorated Cane

ink and watercolors

I sketched my cane while waiting for the doctor who told me that I had Pink Eye.

Instead of a lump of coal, Santa brought me a contagious disease!

The wind was really strong on Christmas Eve, after a light snowfall in the morning. We've never had snow for Christmas in my entire lifetime.

I reached for the car door, as Christopher was getting out, in the HEB parking lot. The wind caught the door at the same time. I put my foot back to catch myself, but the curb was behind my foot, so down I went, on my backside. Immediately, I thought that my new knee would be ruined. Then I thought that I was so cold! Maybe I would need an ambulance! But, I was okay, although a bit embarrassed about being out in front of all those people, in shorts, with my feet up in the air! I don't think anyone noticed, but my family helped me up.

I don't think that I have ever been so cold in a store, while trying to shop. It was as bad as being outside, with the wind racing through and blowing all the signs, and the freezer areas being unbearably cold. I huddled in my cape and scarf and tried to hurry through the store. I felt so sorry for the workers, especially those at the cash registers at the front of the store, who were exposed to the cold air and wind. Someone should have realized that it does get cold in Texas in the winter, when a cold front comes through, when they designed that new store!

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Just a few new pictures for you to enjoy as we end 2009. Where did the time go!

I'm ending the year with creeping around, with very sore legs. I had a tall, male physical therapist yesterday, who was really hard on me. Well, I guess he could have been worse. Among the things he did to me was to sit on my foot and press my leg back and hold it. When I was grabbing at the table edges with pain, he said that was a good sign, and had to hold it for 15 seconds! He set the Total Trainer to Level 10, which was really tall, I thought. And he put ice and a weight on my leg. But the thing that I think got my legs to be so achy today was to have me go up and down 4 flights of stairs. I only have 6 little steps at home, so I was really huffing and puffing. And my thighs especially don't want me to move today!

I don't have my comfortable chair back at the computer desk yet as the boys are using it to watch movies and do their games, so the little chair I am using at my work table is not very comfortable-especially with my knee that can't take sitting still too long, unless it is elevated.

The computer has been really slow and difficult lately, so I usually give up after I go through a little bit of e-mail. I don't know if it is because it was off for so long, or it if is just old. Maybe it needs someone to work on it.

Hopefully, once I get going more, I can do more with my art, writing, genealogy, and my blog.

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I hope that your New Year's Eve, Hogamany, and Blue Moon celebrations are safe and happy, with many great memories. With wishes for a great 2010 for everyone!

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Starting Out

Read through several posts to see all the sketches that Barbara and I did for Sketch Crawl in Bryan and College Station. I hope that they are now in some sort of order. I had invited people to meet at the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan and, if we had a group, we could decide where we wanted to work. Barbara met me at the coffee shop of the LaSalle, but no one else came.
I used a 5"x 7" sketchbook, a pencil, a Pitt pen, and a Winsor Newton travel set of watercolors. I also brought a small watercolor sketchbook, and a larger watercolor sketchbook, in case I might need them. Barbara used a small sketchbook, a few pens, and a small set of travel watercolors.

Hot Summer Day

Cecelia

ink and watercolors

We knew that it was going to be an extremely hot day, with temperatures topping 100 degrees, so we planned on finding a cool place to sketch for the July Sketch Crawl. Fields and lawns are burned and the dirt is either hard or sandy from the drought and heat. Some trees are beginning to die. A boat parked in a field of parched weeds caught my attention.

Orange Juice At The LaSalle

Cecelia

ink and watercolors

I'm not a coffee drinker, so, while I waited for Barbara, I ordered orange juice to drink. I picked out a table by a window overlooking the street , and got out my sketchbook. No one was just having coffee. There was a group, meeting in a corner of the room, a man with a computer, a woman with a book, groups of people walking in and out of the hotel, the people working behind the counter-all wrapped up in their own worlds.
I was fascinated by the wood work and mirrors, the art deco lights and furnishings. I had a little trouble with getting to the restroom. The rest room is downstairs. I had trouble finding the buttons in the elevator. I hate to ride elevators alone! But, the ceiling lights at the elevator in the basement, and the woodwork and mirrors in the elevator, made the wait enjoyable.
I just hoped I could find my way back!

It turned out to be a nice day.

Read on down the posts to see the rest of our sketches and adventures.

And be sure to go to http://www.sketchcrawl.com to see art work and experiences from around the world on that same day.

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Beginning

Reading

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched this woman, enjoying reading a very thick book, in the coffee shop as we started Sketch Crawl.

Computing In The Coffee Shop

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched a man at the next table, using his lap top. She used her small travel set of watercolors, a tiny folding brush, and a film container with water to add color to her sketch.

Ladies Meeting

Barbara

ink

When we arrived at the coffee shop, a group of ladies were having a meeting under an unusual antique mirror. They kept moving, so this was particularly challenging for Barbara.

Barbara Sketching

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

Since we didn't get any photographs, I did a little drawing of Barbara, sketching, while people walked past the window. I am having trouble getting my skin tones right. The yellow is just too strong. It was nice to hear people who were walking about, and talking about shopping and making lunch plans downtown.

Ordering

Cecelia

ink and watercolors

Someone with a pony tail, hanging across their back, was ordering at the counter. I thought I would do a person, too, since Barbara was doing people. Of course, this person, too, left and I had to finish from my gesture drawing.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop, and downtown Bryan.

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Morning

View From The Window

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

My view through the window of the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop window. Included is the back of the sign that hangs in the window. On the left is the Masonic Lodge and, on the right, is the restored Carnegie Library. There is a little pigeon in the round window at the top of the library. There is a garden area between the two buildings.

Masonic Lodge

Barbara

ink and watercolor

Barbara sketched her view of the Masonic Lodge through the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop window. A barber shop is on the ground floor. She used her small travel set of watercolors to add color to her work. For water, she had an empty film container with water, and a tiny folding brush.

WWoman Sitting In The Courtyard

Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched this woman, sitting in the courtyard outside the coffee shop of the LaSalle Hotel. Of course, like other subjects, she moved before Barbara was finished. Barbara enjoyed the challenge of drawing people rather than buildings, or other stationary objects, because they don't sit still and wait while they are being sketched.

Courtyard Gate

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

I don't know what happened, but this is, all of a sudden, wanting to make big spaces between lines. Sorry about that! I didn't do anything.

While Barbara was challenged by drawing moving subjects, I was looking at color, light, shadow, shapes, and that sort of thing. I liked the plantings in the little courtyard, and the iron gate beside the wide windows of the coffee shop.

These were some of our sketches for the World Wide Sketch Crawl. We failed to get any photos this time because Barbara didn't have her camera with her, and Joni didn't have batteries for her's. So, no photos to share, this time. Hopefully, our sketches will be okay to show part of our day.

Checking In

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

We left the coffee shop about noon. I had asked people to meet at the coffee shop, then, after 10 a.m., to check in at the Frame Gallery, so we would have some idea of who was sketching, and where. We seemed to be sketching alone.

We were greeted at The Frame Gallery by Sarah, the resident dog. Greta was helping customers select a frame for the portrait that she had painted of them.

We spent some time trying to decide on a place to eat. I thought of baked potatoes and atmosphere at Rudy's in College Station, so that is where we headed. Sort of. I am not a very good navigator so we got lost!

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My apologies for this double spacing. And for having to put these in several posts! But that is all I could figure out to do.

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23rd World Wide Sketch Crawl Start

Texas Rider

Cecelia

ink and watercolor

It was my job to direct Barbara to Rudy's barbeque for lunch after spending the morning sketching at the LaSalle Hotel coffee shop. I started sketching this young man, riding on a tool box in back of a pick up truck, missed the turn, and it ended up taking us an hour to find Rudy's. I couldn't have read the signs, anyway. This town is growing and changing so much that I can't find the landmarks that have always been here!

Signs

Joni and Ashton joined us for lunch. I gave them paper and pencil to draw something for Sketch Crawl and this is what they did. Joni thought this sign, admonishing people to clean up, was hilarious. It does fit, I guess, for people who are away from home for the first time, in college, etc. And for some older folks who forget the lessons they learned. Ashton did a quick No Smoking sign. The last time we were here, he laughed at the sign that said No Smoking, right next to the fireplace! And, considering that the food is smoked, I thought that was a funny sign, too.

Couple Eating Barbeque
Barbara

ink

Barbara sketched this man who was having lunch with his wife. He detected her drawing and they stopped to look at what she was doing. We told them about Sketch Crawl and gave them a flyer. I think they were impressed.

Oops!.. They Left
Barbara

ink

Barbara was sketching and her subjects left. A problem we encounter when drawing from life. Our subjects often tend to move!

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More about out Sketch Crawl Day in another post!

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22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl Port Lavaca, Texas

22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl

by Barbara

Saturday

April 11, 2009

Barbara didn't get to come to join us in Calvert or Bryan for the Sketch Crawl Saturday. But she sent me her sketches to post. These are also on the Sketch Crawl website, http://www.sketchcrawl.com . Look under Forums, 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl, and they are listed under Port Lavaca, Texas.

Barbara said, "Sketch Crawl Day results from my day. The hardware store is ink pen, and the group eating at Skillet's was ink pen and watercolor. The cool, strong winds didn't help with the hardware one done outside. Or, the one eye. But it was fun."

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I've made a mess trying to post my pictures from Sketch Crawl. I've spent all day today and part of Easter Sunday, trying to load my pictures, organize them, etc. I ended up thinking I was organizing a folder on Flickr, and found that I had deleted a whole folder and lots of pictures that I didn't mean to get rid of. I just wanted to move them to a different place! Didn't see anywhere that said how to do that! So, I'll have to start over from back at the Plein Aire Workshops, all the art work I had added there, etc. I could chew nails!

I need to finish getting my own sketches ready to load and put on Flickr, then on the Sketch Crawl website.

I did take time to look at a few of the many locations that have added their results to the Sketch Crawl site. It's really interesting to see what people have done. Really enjoyed the results from Georgetown, Texas, not so far from here. They had several children participating, which I thought was really cool!

Go to the site and enjoy all the sketches.

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Our sympathies go out to the family of Erin, the former Mary Branch student, who lost her long battle with cancer. Certainly a sad time, but what a terrific young lady. Her accomplishments in her short life are just amazing.

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I'll try to post my sketches and pictures tomorrow. It may get delayed, though, because the oldest grandson has ankle surgery tomorrow-again.

And I may have to think about finishing up that dreaded income tax sometime soon. Math! It's not my thing at all! Why can't we just draw them a picture or something! It's pure torture for us right brained people. Everybody else, too.

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We had a quiet Easter. Oldest grandson had to work. Youngest is still getting over his flu. He's too big for Easter Egg hunts and all that. He and his mom made cup cakes and decorated them. His mom baked a small ham for dinner yesterday. We watched tv and ate, then went to visit at the nursing home for a while. Took Thelma an Easter cupcake and a Coke. Rode by the little dam at the Municipal Golf Course on the way home.

It turned out to be a pretty day after morning rain. We got about a half a birdbath full of rain, which is badly needed, they say.

*****