Ink Practice

 Another super hot and humid day today-probably similar to the weather many of you are having too.

   I finished a book I was reading today-part of the Elm Creek Quilt series. It was depressing to read, as it was pretty graphic about the slavery and the civil war. The beginning and the end that brought it all together made it worth the read.  

  Watched more about the devastating flooding in Texas, made us our 2 in the afternoon main meal-and then decided to work with inks.

  I am trying to do something most every day with watercolor paints or inks. Yesterday I was attempting a scene with a squirrel in the woods eating a nut-the end result was pretty grade school haha.

  So today I used my inks-black india ink, oak gall ink which is a pretty grey, one of my inks for the brown and Windsor and Newton watercolor inks. I love their inks. I found this photo online I had bought a box with around 10 or 12 colors   

I used this page for inspiration-which was using ink

I love the look of inks.  The white ink though was thick like paint not thin like their other inks. I used a brush and went over the waterfall a bit with the white ink. Those of you that work with ink-what can I use to thin this? thanks

   I may look at this again tomorrow and add more to this  (photos will enlarge just click on them)

and for laughs-yesterday's practice-most of this was also done with inks but the green is watercolor paint

Looks like a possible cool down tomorrow-I'll take it  Happy weekend

Hot Hot & Hotter & This & That

     Good morning Thursday  Wow this week is flying by too fast. Very hot and humid, major issues with the service we got from when we installed our furnace in January-won't even go into it-but now the issue is-our a/c unit is not compatible with the new furnace-they should have known this back in January but they sent out two apprentices with no lead tech.  So unhappy with this company. The motor will probably burn out again but I am keeping the thermostat in the low 80's instead of 79 so it doesn't come on as much. Hopefully we make it through the rest of summer and decide what to do going forward. The tech that came out to change the motor told us this and said next time the motor will not be covered in the warranty-it's their bad service in the beginning that caused this-oh well what can one do to protect themselves any more. sad

  Hubs has been ill but getting better finally. Me I am still having issues with foods but I think I am done losing weight now as I am finally consistent at 114 to 115 for a week now-finally. That's a 20 pound loss since last winter. This is actually my normal weight before I turned towards the 50's in age. Larry finally noticed-hey you are too skinny haha. I like this weight though or perhaps into the low 20's

 I wrote down the list of supplies from the book I shared on making watercolor paints-

  There was actually quite a long list of supplies. I need to check my natural dye supply box as I think some of the items I need am hoping to have already.

  I did buy the tempered glass board and glass muller on amazon for mixing the paint. I also needed a new set of watercolor brushes-mine were super inexpensive at the time so my favorite ones are in bad shape already.  These two glass pieces were rather expensive but I went ahead and got them. This tempered glass board  was the right size with high reviews.  I will need to find someone to gift my art and craft supplies to in the future (smiles)

  I also picked up those little pans to hold the paints and I do have lots of little jars already.

 I could probably buy professional grade watercolor paints for the same amount of money in the end-but what fun is that haha.

  The author of this book lives in Canada and she is on different internet platforms with her videos-You Tube Instagram, Facebook etc. One needs her book though for the basic recipe and how to make the paints-she does not share any of that in her videos.

  She posted recently about  making paint from watermelon.  video here on facebook  I am hoping this link works-may have to be on facebook not sure.  This video is also on Instagram too. She is under her name (name on book)

Today I get my first box of USA  beef from Good Chop  Larry is not eating any meat right now so kinda bad timing-am anxious to try it though.

That's it for me  

Enjoy your day and stay cool and hydrated

Prayers for Texas

    My heart goes out to Texas.

   I just can't wrap my head around the loss of the little girls that attended a Christian camp 

     The latest news I have seen just now-a young person was rescued that had climbed into a tree, and 11 more little girls and one camp counselor to be recovered or found.  

Governor of Texas has declared July 6th day of prayer for Texas

It's Our Independence Day

 

Watercolor Practice & Fireworks have Begun

    I thought I would try to get to sleep early tonight, as I was tired but the fireworks have begun already here on the lake. I got up and watched for a bit. I do love fireworks but could do without the ones that just make a very loud boom.

   I have been practicing with watercolors and inks this week. I got out the book that I worked out of two years ago. I really like this book as they also use a lot of inks and show the brush strokes.

My piece looks nothing like the page I was using for reference-but that's ok-I am getting back to the feel of the paints again. I usually over do the watercolors when they are still wet-need to work on that.

   The brown is the hibiscus ink I had made two years ago. The purple and red is Windsor and Newton's inks and the black is another ink that I have Blues and greens are the watercolors

       Any plans for the 4th?   I have no idea what I am going to make us this year. Larry is not eating much this week , and I have to be careful what I eat still-so will figure it out tomorrow haha Now that rain is out of the area-I started the grass cutting early this morning-I will do that tomorrow morning as well. We are headed back up to the 90's-so the lake will be packed for sure. The rain was all taken out of the forecast.

   Happy 4th-all that celebrate here in the USA

Surprise Bloom

 Good morning Monday

    This is the first year that my amaryllis bulbs did not bloom in the house late winter or early spring.

   So after the last freeze when I put the two big clay pots outdoors I began watering them. One of the pots are young plants. Well just before all the rain -one of those young bulbs produced a lovely huge bloom-but on a very very short  stem near the bulb.

  Have you ever seen this before??

Happy Monday and last day of June 2025---How did that happen??? Smiles

Cool Down & Lots of Rain

 So thankful for the cool down-finally, and Lots and Lots of rain coming down since last night. My rain gauge showed 11 inches in a 24 hour period and it is still coming down around 5 pm now.

We really needed some rain, and I really needed the cool down too.  Of course my grass is so high already-oh well.  I am sure the Missouri rivers here will be flooded as some of the low spots and coves on Lake in the Ozarks. We are up high so we are safe from flooding. Although our basement will get some rain coming in when we get this much.

I found this photo online-looks like our lake right now-missing the lake houses.

        I wanted to do a re do of the Spring in Paris-into a Summer in Paris. I didn't get perfect stamping images and since this was the second try didn't want to use more watercolor paper on this.  I used my watercolor pencils instead of inks-which were fun to use too-and my dip pen and ink to make the cobbled street.  This was so so but I am working on doing something with paints every week-hopefully a couple days a week.. After I painted the big heart-not sure if I liked that or not-but the color does match with one of the flowers to the left so kinda brings it all together.

  Click to enlarge for better viewing.

   It has also been two years ago that I bought a few glass dip pens-I Love using them.  I had bought a hand blown glass pen first, however it is quite fragile looking so I mostly admire that one.  At the time I wanted to learn calligraphy but too  much has happened since then.

   The dip pen shown above was the second glass pen I bought, but it is a bit bulky for letter writing. I used it here for the cobblestones. I found it on Amazon and it came in a really nice wooden box, with a little glass piece to rest the pen on.  The crystal ink pot is vintage and Larry brought home two of these from a garage sale years ago. They came sitting on a little wooden piece that would sit on a desk. The top is silver-I love using these. I keep my own black walnut ink in one and the other black ink.

   I also found on Amazon back then, very nice glass dip pens that had a huge markdown-after I bought one to see what they were like-ended up being perfect for letter writing-so I bought a couple more. At the time I didn't know if these would break easy-so far none of them have..

   Another nice thing about this cool down-no super loud fan motor to listen to  since the a/c is not coming on. I need to call them Monday to find out if they got the new motor or not-I need to do some food shopping early this week too-am pretty much out of fresh veggies and fruits..

   Happy new week!!

Trouble W/ AC & Beef in a Box & Painting

   It's been a long day-well they are all the same hours-haha-but seemed long.

We had a new heating system put in early January this year, and the guys needed to come back out several times to get it working right.  We had replaced the A/C system when we first moved here.

  Yesterday the blowing fan started making loud noises, today it was much worse-our heating system is under warranty for a year for service calls and parts. It took me awhile to locate their phone number-I was never given a card and was not even on the manual. 

     So she was giving me a hard time that the a/c was the issue and I said no it's the blowing fan you put in for the furnace that also is used by the a/c.  So she finally understands but the service call is not until tomorrow late evening. They are booked solid-of course do to the extreme heat. Their service call charges is outrageous-so hoping no issues with that.

  So I had the a/c turned off all day and this evening it is just too hot for us so had to turn it back on always something isn't there?  I was concerned that the loud noise would make things worse but we both need the a/c especially Larry. The high heat plus humidity continues.

   I have been looking for a source to buy quality beef. After talking with the rancher that sells it at the little farmers market nearby I wasn't real impressed on how it was handled.  So  I decided to look into beef boxes as I am very happy with the Alaskan seafood that I have shipped.

 I spent a couple hours looking online. One I really liked a lot but after chatting with them the beef is from Australia and not the USA   So I decided on Good Chop-I liked their cuts-was looking for mostly lean cuts, they did not have free shipping like most do, but it was around $10.00 so not too bad.  Their special today for new subscribers was free shipping, $50.00 off my box and I think my next box too, I also got to choose from a couple free items-I chose the hamburger. The box size I chose--  the smallest-was to pick 6 items and they had many lean cuts to choose from.  The bill ended up at $108.00. Most of the beef packages had two pieces in them, the rib eye is very large. I thought I would get one really nice steak-that will feed us for a couple meals too.  This company represents USA ranchers and they had a high ranking- This company also lets you choose how often to get a box, can change the cuts as well. I could have gotten it next week Wednesday but decided on the second week in July.

 This morning, I found the spiral pad of watercolor papers and found many pieces I did two years ago, with my own made watercolor inks as well as the watercolor paints. Looking at them now-I was too hard on myself  Smiles. I was working out of  a watercolor book in hard cover spiral from Japan-I worked out of that book a lot-It showed you the strokes, and suggested paint colors.  

  This is what I ended up with

Here is the page I was working off of-I will try this again tomorrow as mine is totally different This is an Iris flower. I don't like the green I used either.  It was fun and relaxing-so that's a good thing. I had the a/c situation on my mind too

I also opened up the box of inks I had made two years ago-and I figured as much-they mostly changed to different shades of browns but I like them.  I used the back of the paper of the painting from yesterday for samples. If you  enlarge the photo-click on it-and you can read what I made the inks from. The hibiscus on the far right held it's color the best. I will use these up in paintings-love the muted soft colors.

Some of you may remember this piece-one of my favorites. I used stamps and my handmade inks, along with Winsor and Newton watercolor inks It took me a bit to find the post again-in 2023 This photo cut off Paris--Spring in Paris

Happy mid-week, and stay cool 

Watercolor Painting

   A couple years ago I tried painting with acrylics and also watercolor paints. I like the watercolor paints better. I got discouraged as this needs lots of practice, never took a class, but I have picked up a few books.

  I do like the watercolor book on wildflowers, and today I got the newly published book on making watercolor paints from botanicals and veggies which looks really good. I need to buy a few supplies to get set up though.  This looks like a good beginning for this project. Her You Tube channel is excellent with all sorts of different botanicals to make into the watercolor paints. One needs the book though to know what added ingredients are required to make the watercolor paints.

 I have a little desk top mini easel that is perfect for me. I grabbed a thick piece of paper that was included in some stationary and just played on that-for fun and to get the feel of it again. For me I think painting is a mindset-just be confident and do it haha  well hoping I get better this time of trying.

  So this was just for fun-used one of the flowers as a guide from the book, and added the little bird and birdseed and a little something top and bottom I think my style-if I end up with one-is more folk or country  the photo will enlarge just click on it.

Staying Cool?

    How are you all staying cool??  

I never had air conditioning in the house until we moved down to Missouri for our retirement years. In this area it is a must, especially for health conditions. We usually have high humidity along with the heat.

  We were mid 80's F before 8 am already this morning. I set up the garden hose so I could water the perennials early mornings or early evenings after the sun goes down a bit. I may need to water twice.

  I started on a deep clean of our home this morning-we have vintage wood pieces so a good time to get out the Liquid Gold wood cleaner.

 I was really stuck in the house over the bitter cold winter, and now summer begins with severe heat and humidity-that's Mother Nature for ya-Smiles.

 Thinking of cool foods for summer -what are your favorites??

    

Here is a link to lots of summer cold salads

a coconut shrimp salad from above link

How about ice cream?

  A few years ago I bought a ice cream cone maker-to make me a gluten free ice cream cone-have not tried that yet-not sure why now. I think that goes on my to do list this summer.

Please stay hydrated and cool during these extreme hot temperatures

 Hugs from the Ozarks

Hot in the Ozarks & Ramblings

   Summer came in with the Solstice yesterday. Hit mid 90's and will continue  through next week as  well. What a complete turn around here from too much rain and perfectly comfortable temperatures to this extreme heat wave-I will need to water my perennials this evening going forward.

  Snoopy says it best haha Of course the non seniors are loving this weather so the lake is crazy-always fun to watch the different boats go by

Yesterday morning I mowed on the hill and stood on a gravel path down to the lake that Larry put in a few years ago. Some how this messed up my back by evening yesterday. ugh I have lost a lot of weight figuring out what to eat for the acid reflux and over the winter I have lost a lot of muscle too I will need to work on that. Still in a lot of pain today so could not get outdoors to work this morning.

 We mostly eat port and chicken and I am eating more ocean fish now too. Today Larry informed me he is tired of pork and wants more beef. He never says anything so this must have been on his mind for awhile With his heart condition I didn't think beef was all that good for him. I did look it up online and it suggested beef cuts good for seniors.   The wal mart  here where we live now has horrible meat, and the beef prices are out of line too.  The local grocery store has a better selection to choose from so will need to explore that next time. I also put in a request for meat shops near me in a local facebook group for this area of the lake. Maybe there is butcher shop that sells meat nearby.

   I was a vegetarian in the past for several years and I  never cared for a lot of beef anyways growing up so I really am not good at cooking it either-Will need to look into that.

  :Looks like our nation has gone from too much rain and storms to a massive heat wave.

Stay safe everyone.  Oh and looking out my kitchen window today I saw a couple different butterflies and also one hummingbird enjoying the milkweed flowers  Smiles

  

Summer Soltice

 

June 20, 2025 9:42 pm central time

Summer Solstice Goddesses (below copied from online)

Aine (Celtic), Amaterasu (Japanese), and the Horae (Greek), particularly Auxo (Greek) are all goddesses associated with the summer solstice and its symbolism: 

1. Aine (Celtic):

• Aine is a Celtic goddess of love, fertility, and sovereignty.
• She is often associated with the sun and plays a significant role in Midsummer (summer solstice) celebrations.
• Aine embodies the peak energy of summer, the abundance of life, and the vitality of the earth.
• She is seen as a connection between the natural world and the realm of the faeries.
• Her radiant presence reflects the power of the sun at the summer solstice, symbolizing warmth, passion, and creativity.
• Honoring Aine during Midsummer celebrates both the abundant growth in nature and the inner strength of individuals. 

2. Amaterasu (Japanese):

• Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess, and a central figure in Shinto mythology.
• She is considered one of the most important offspring of the god Izanagi.
• While not directly tied to the summer solstice in the same way as Aine or Auxo, as the sun goddess, her presence and energy are inherently linked to the sun's power and influence, especially during the time of peak sunlight. 

3. The Horae (Greek), particularly Auxo:

• The Horae are goddesses in Greek mythology, representing the cycles of time and the seasons.
• Auxo is one of the Horae, specifically associated with summer, growth, and vegetation.
• As the goddess of summer, Auxo embodies the bounty of nature and the ripening of crops during the summer season.
• Her presence is associated with the flourishing harvest that comes with the abundance of summer. 

In summary:

• Aine and Auxo are both strongly connected to the summer solstice and its symbolism of abundance, fertility, and the peak of nature's energy.
• Amaterasu, as the sun goddess, is associated with the sun's power and influence, which is at its peak during the summer solstice. 

These goddesses represent different cultural interpretations of the significance of the summer solstice and the celebration of life, growth, and abundance associated with this time of year. 

It's Raining Again

   Good morning, It's raining early today. I am grateful for the rain as some years here in the Ozarks we get very little rain June til September.

  I thought I would browse the internet and share some photos. Rain an be calming and peaceful this time of year (these photos are all royalty free)

 Enjoy your day

Garden Photos

   This afternoon I got back out digging up the chocolate mint. I have never seen mint with such large root systems, and packed in like a brick almost-a huge job for sure. Never could dig this out without all the rain we have been having. 

  I made progress yesterday and I was back out a bit this afternoon. The runners are soooo long that I yank a section out and then dig out the root system. It is raining again so needed to come in. I did grab my camera before it started really raining hard.

   That just soil area is part of the area I have been working on. This mint is mixed in with Larry's shallots and those gladiolas-too, so that will be a chore to get the mint out in those areas  I may just dig up the gladiolas first and then dig up the mint and replant them

It doesn't look like much but all that blank soil was solid mint. 

around the garden-with all the rain ,all of the perennials I grew from seed and planted two years ago are now huge.

Do any of you know what plant this is below?  Two years ago this was a tiny little plant that I bought on ebay. I think it was one the hummingbirds like-Mary you bought one too do you remember the name?? thanks

   That tube sticking out directs the rain water down to the lake and in our basement-like it did when we first moved here.

This year the deer or the chipmunks keep digging up what I plant in my big copper pot (above) I just replanted it again with some flowers I grew from seed.

I have a few large clumps of yarrow

Below these pretty purple ones are mixed in with the shallots I really like these

This geranium seems happy in this huge pot

Below flower seeds I scattered last week-mostly zinnias, I did the same with saved marigold seeds today

Happy new week everyone.

Yesterday's Parade

   Good morning Sunday,

    I just wanted to share a link to the complete parade and very patriotic fireworks display.  I had watched the parade live on Newsmax yesterday and was disappointed when they cut off the fireworks show.

  I had recorded the parade on Newsmax and also on Fox-Fox also cut off the fireworks and also had less coverage of the parade then Newsmax  had shared.

  So this morning I am thinking I should have watched all of this on RSBN as they show everything live all the time. They also keep their recordings up on You Tube so you can watch again or if you missed it.

  This morning I buzzed through to the fireworks---if you love patriotism displayed for love of country this was just amazing-gave me goosebumps smiles  I do love a good fireworks display

  

Happy Weekend

   Happy Weekend Everyone,

I am getting ready to go outdoors soon-see if it is too wet-or not-and dig up more chocolate mint. I have some flowers and marigold seeds to plant as well.

 A couple days ago early in the morning I grabbed the weed eater and started cutting down weeds up on top where the mailbox is by our gravel road and near our cars. I have done this since we moved here. All of a sudden a huge bang and shattered glass everywhere. Look up and a small rock hit my back window of my old (1999) Mercury Mountainer  Stood there in disbelief. I called around right away to get this replaced as soon as possible.  At the time I didn't think about grabbing my camera to take a photo

   A year or so go now one of the neighbors that takes a walk around our circle stopped to chat and introduced herself and she gave me her phone number if I ever needed help.  Took me awhile to find it but she dropped everything to help me. Yesterday morning early I got the call that my car was done-that was fast-I was the first car they did. So thankful.  I keep pecan pies in the freezer from nuts.com and offered her one for helping me. I don't feel quite so alone now.

  We have good friends that we met from a mutual acquaintance, but he is having major medical issues right now. The doctors can't figure it out so they keep sending him home. He pinched a never in his neck and has horrible pain-they are thinking now possibly that he had a stroke in his eyes-never heard of this, but he does also have blurred vision. His wife will set up an appointment with an eye specialist. Sadly the hospitals near us-within an hour's drive are not good-perhaps this is the new standard sadly.

   I am looking forward to the big 250th anniversary of our army later today-sounds fun.

Happy weekend, Happy Flag Day, Happy Father's Day too

  Below found online

  President Donald J. Trump has proclaimed June 14, 2025, as Flag Day.

On June 14, 1777, a banner of red, white, and blue was woven into history when the Second Continental Congress passed the First Flag Resolution—making the Stars and Stripes the official flag of the United States of America

Let’s take this time to honor the flag and everything it stands for: freedom, unity, and the enduring spirit of America.