How To Subscribe to This Blog

Does this topic make you want to hide under this quilt and nap?

Good morning, Blog Readers.

My blog has 2 different items that you may subscribe to. This confuses many people, so today I will tackle item #1. 

How to subscribe to THE BLOG:

You may subscribe to my blog. This means that each time I post a new entry, you will get an email. The email will contain the whole post, or you can click (or tap) on it and go to the blog on my website. 

It is not necessary to subscribe to be able to read it. Subscribing means you will get an email; not everyone wants 5 emails from me per week. No offense taken. Do what works for you.

If you are looking at the main blog page instead of the individual blog post, you should see the thing circled in the picture above. If you are reading the individual blog post, the subscribe dealie doesn’t show.

If you fill out the subscribe dealie, you will get a confirmation email. Follow the instructions there, and you will start receiving an email each time I post.

Yeppers, a little bit boring today. Tomorrow will also be a little bit boring. It will explain how to subscribe to the newsletter.

Thank you for reading.

Email me if you want help! Oh no, do I need to do a whole tutorial on that?? Say it ain’t so! My eddress (in words instead of regular email format so that the Bad Boys of the World Wide Web won’t bother me) is cabinart at cabinart dot net.

P.S. “Blog” comes from “web log”. Take away the “we” and the space, and you get “blog”. The “log” part is the word meaning “journal”. It is a journal on the world wide web. 

 

Odd Job, Day 3

After making all our design decisions about my friend’s coat of arms, I started painting. 

But first, I had to draw and trace it onto the canvas. This is too precise a design to be just sloppy-slapping it down.

This needs to dry for a day or two before I continue. It needs a more vivid green, a golden type color instead of the yellow, and new layers on everything. 

Sunday Bonus

Our friend in Lemon Cove graciously lets us glean in his orchard.

I am the daughter and granddaughter of citrus growers and love to be in an orange grove. Gleaning oranges is what passes for a great outing and rippin’ good time for Trail Guy and I these days. (Sharing our loot is a bonus.)

The full-on blossom time is almost here; orange blossoms are my favorite scent in the world.

Who needs lunch? Not me, because I just ate three oranges.

“Let not your hearts be troubled; neither let them be afraid.” We have a choice here, dear Blog Readers.

May you find bright spots and good things to share with those in your circles.

And here is one more bright spot for you: TenTwoSix Singers, a group of 31 Nashville studio singers using technology to do a most beautiful a capella version of “It is Well” all from their separate sheltering in place locations. The link takes you to Facebook, but you don’t have to have an account to listen. (If beautiful music stirs you, you might cry.) 

Mooney Grove Tour VI

Today’s tour will consist of views – oak trees, the pond, the arbors, and finally, the views from the 2 hills on the north east corner of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park.

I felt sad to not be going to the park when my murals were finished, and this tour was my way of lingering. Now that our extended tour of Mooney Grove has concluded, we will return to the actual business of art next week.

More Oil Interludishness

Yeppers, I made up another word. It simply means that I was able to paint a few more days than expected and have more progress to show you on Mineral King oil paintings.More detail on the painting on the left, but more contemplation is needed before signing this.

What does Pippin think?Since Pippin didn’t offer any help, I added wildflowers to these two.That was fun, so I did the same to the painting on the left.Now let’s tackle this unusual arrangement of a usual subject matter, the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, now a little museum. Well, actually right now it is boarded up for the winter. And let’s just paint it, not tackle it, hmmm?This turned out really well, so when it is dry, I’ll photograph it minus the poor afternoon sunlight and sheen of wet paint so you can fully appreciate its specialness.

Pippin? Got anything to add here?

Guess not. He just adds cuteness to my life.

Painting Christmas Ornaments. . .

. . . is a little tricky, because they are LITTLE!

My official White House photos, along with 3 ornaments . Only the one on the far right is available ($75).
I found another small Christmas ornament, primed and ready to paint. Isn’t this a great solution for how to hang it to dry? Notice the metal clothespins inside the 2×2″ canvases.

Those little 2×2″ canvases are tricky tricky tricky. Small metal clothespins fit inside the back, serving as handles while painting and a way to secure them to the pegboard for drying. Alas, I only have 3, but there are 6 little canvases to paint.

These giant paper clips also work well. “Necessity is the mother of invention”.
The giant paper clip was also a good solution for hanging the ornament by my wood stove for drying. ($75)
Here are the completed 2×2″ canvases, minus their cute wooden display easels. ($25 each, in case you were wondering.)

All except one of these poinsettias will be available at the Perfect Gift Boutique on Friday and Saturday this week. The poinsettia paintings come with little wooden easels, perfect for those into minimalist decorating (even those into maximalist decorating).

Layer By Layer

When I last showed you this painting, it looked like this.
It all needed work, so I started at the top with Alta Peak, worked my way down the hills, and moved into the flatlands. The original photo is not square, so I cropped it, but then squeezed in every detail I could find from the flatland area, including 2 barns.
Two matching barns looked dumb, so I tore one down.
The orange trees need oranges. The orange groves need frost protection; that means when it dries I will add wind machines.

Besides fruit and frost protection and a signature, this one needs a title. It might also need to have the fog or smoke removed, and a bit more texture and detail in all the layers of hills and mountains.

Nine Things I Learned in October

Closing the cabin meant I could finally wash my car. Pippin wanted to help.
  1. It doesn’t hurt to turn 60 when you are with good friends, doing fun things in interesting places.
  2. I really prefer the mountains to the desert; it was wonderful to see Bodie, Mono Lake, Convict Lake (and so-so to see the Devil’s Postpile), but I don’t feel a desire to return to those places. I’m glad they are there for folks to enjoy, but I’ll choose another destination next time.
  3. It is time to think about painting larger. Why? Not sure yet, just thinking it is time. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.
  4. My friend Lupe and I are almost twins–how could I not know this after 6-7 years of friendship?? Why is this so fun to know? Dunno–it just is!
  5. Symphony orchestras can rent movies without the music and then show the movie while playing the score live. What?? And who knew that the Tulare County Symphony could sound just like the London Symphony? I don’t really like action movies, but Raiders of the Lost Ark was a very fun movie to watch at the symphony (with Lupe, my almost twin!)
  6. Deer eat chrysanthemums, broccoli, comfry leaves, and sweet potato vines. Boy am I mad.
  7. I still love country music – thought I had outgrown it, but nope. My current song obsession is called “Ain’t No Grave” by Molly Skaggs, daughter of Ricky. Oh my goodness.
  8. A group called Business Networking International is working to form a chapter in Visalia. I have lost most of my Visalia business connections, and am trying the group out as a way to stay in contact with people in the seat of Tulare County. As great as Three Rivers and Mineral King are, they just aren’t quite big enough.
  9. Hiking Buddy and I talked about podcasts while on our road trip. I looked up speaker/writer/life coach Mel Robbins to see if she has one, and she does! She is like a nice version of Dr. Laura, helping people solve their problems. Mel Robbins is a wise, energetic, no-nonsense but kind person with a lot to teach people. It is actually a TV show but you can listen to it as a podcast.
Pippin settled on the roof of my clean(ish) car in the garage.